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One of a Kind: The Rise of and Fall of Stuey “The
Kid” Ungar, the World’s Greatest Poker Player,
by Nolan Dalla and Peter Alson, chronicles the troubled
life of the legendary poker prodigy, from his childhood
as the son of a Lower East Side Bookie to his rise to
poker stardom, descent into drugs hell and tragic early
death. Bluff meets his ex-wife, Madeline, and daughter,
Stephanie, who fondly remember the man behind the myth.
What do you think Stuey would
have made of poker in 2005?
Madeline: You know, I think he had
an insight. He was good at things like that. I think
most of the people who are playing are nowhere in his
league, so that wouldn’t have bothered him at
all. But I think he would have loved the attention the
game gets now.
Have you kept a close connection
with the poker world?
Madeline: Poker people are very friendly,
especially here in Vegas. I’ve stayed in touch
with Stuey’s close friends: Bobby Baldwin, Billy
Baxter, Doyle Brunson… people like that.
Everybody who met him seems to
have a favorite Stuey story. He touched a lot of people’s
lives. What’s it like being here at the WSOP,
amongst so many people who knew him?
Madeline: I had a gentleman come over
who was there when he won his first poker tournament.
It just touched me so much that tears came into my eyes.
Another gentleman came up who knew him when he was fourteen
years old. Everyone is so gracious and genuine. They
don’t have to come up to me and tell me how much
they loved Stuey, but they do. Once you’re gone
you’re gone, but when you realize that so many
people loved him as dearly as Stephanie and I do, it
touches your heart.
This is more than just a biography;
this is the book that Stuey intended to write himself,
isn’t it?
Madeline: It is the book. Stuey and
Nolan [Dalla] started writing the book together, and
so there are lots of passages in his own words. Stuey
always said to me, ”You know, I’ll be worth
more dead than alive.“ But it’s exciting.
It’s exciting to see everyone’s response.
People like to buy in to that
whole ‘rock and roll myth – doomed genius’
bullshit and forget that there was a living, breathing
human being behind it all. Is that something the book
set out to accomplish – to show the human side?
Madeline: Oh absolutely. There’s
definitely a difference between who we are and how people
like to perceive us, or portray us. I never hung around
the poker world – he never wanted me to. So I
guess I knew a different Stuey from a lot of other people.
Stuey was a funny, kind person with a huge heart, who
liked to sit around and watch TV. He was a normal guy.
We had a blast together. We were like little kids hanging
out. We were the same age and, sure, we had troubled
times, but most of the time it was just a blast. He
wasn’t just a guy that sat in the poker room his
whole life and swore at dealers.
Stefanie: That’s what I like
best about the book. Yes, it’s about poker, but
it’s not just for people in the poker scene. It
relates to everyone, and everyone can relate to it.
There’s realness to it – a real human side.
It’s more than just another poker book.
Do you have a favorite passage?
Stefanie: What touched me was that
there’s a part in the book where he’s telling
a story to someone and he says, “You know, I said
to Stephanie, ‘If I could get a complete makeover,
what would you change about me?’”
Well, I thought about it and I said, “Nothing.
I don’t want you to change.” I mean, of
course I wanted his drug problem to go away, but –
the person he was – I loved everything about him.
I’d forgotten that incident and, when I read the
book, to see how much that meant to him, it was a really
emotional experience.
Was working on the book a painful
exercise or a positive one?
Madeline: For me it was very painful.
It turned me inside out. I guess it helped in the long
run and it’s helped me realize what my life was
like back then. I didn’t have the chance to stop
and
think at the time – even when my son, Richie,
took his own life. When people pass away, you kind of
hide; you bury things deep inside and never really deal
with them. But that’s what the book’s helped
me with – working things out; healing those old
wounds. Also, I don’t think I really realized
how much Stuey loved me. He was never a person who could
say I love you. But in the book, it’s there. It’s
there in his own words how much he cared, how much he
depended on me and how much he felt he’d made
a mistakewhen we split up.
Stefanie: He said that the happiest
time in his life was when he and my mom were together.
What did you think about the
film they made? Biopics have a tendency to get things
wrong…
Madeline: Right. We had nothing to
with the film. I was approached, but I rejected it.
It had no backing from us whatsoever. But there will
be a movie from this book.
Stefanie: Graham King, the guy that
did The Aviator and Traffic, is doing it. This is so
new, but it’s definitely going to happen. The
deal’s just been made. We still have to get the
script written.
Is it strange to hear Stuey’s
own voice as you turn the pages?
Madeline: His voice has never left
my memory. Stephanie and I have always kept his memory
alive by talking about his life. So no. I’ve always
felt like he’s right next to me.
Stefanie: Reading the book, I see
and hear so much of myself in him. Half the book made
me crack up with laughter – it makes me realize
why I do some of the things that I do. You get 52 chromosomes
from your dad and 52 from your mom, and it really forms
your personality. I’m so much like my dad.
You don’t play poker do
you, Stefanie?
Stefanie: (Laughs) No, I
don’t play poker.
Um… you probably should.
Stefanie: A lot of people try to get
me into it. But dad didn’t want me in that lifestyle.
I’ve always tried to respect his wishes in that
way. It’s the least I can do.
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