Ungar would claim years later that the man was found shot to death a few days after the incident.

Ungar won the main event, defeating Doyle Brunson to become the youngest champion in its history ( later surpassed, first by Phil Hellmuth in 1989 and then others ).

Ungar later said the real reason he chose not to play in the event was due to his drug abuse in the weeks prior to the tournament.

Growing up with street smart wiseguys such as Romano often presented Ungar with some interesting situations later on in his adult life.

Ungar won or finished high in so many gin tournaments that several casinos asked him to not play in them because many players said they would not enter if they knew Ungar was playing.

The casino said that Ungar " capped " a bet ( put extra chips on a winning hand after it was over to be paid out more ), something he vehemently denied.

Ungar, who held 10-9, thought for a few seconds and said to Matloubi, " You have 4-5 or 5-6 so I'm gonna call you with this " and flipped over his 10-high to win the pot and bust Matloubi, who in fact held exactly what Ungar said he did.

In addition, " the Orecks are major contributors, not only to the Jewish community but to the entire city ( of New Orleans )," said Roselle Ungar, interim executive director of the Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans.

Her only line was " Goodnight ", which was said to Felix Ungar, in which he returned with " Goodbye.

In his biography, Ungar noted he was so exhausted from travel and court proceedings that he was not able to successfully defend his WSOP main event title.

His biography, One of a Kind: The Rise and Fall of Stuey ' the Kid ' Ungar, the World's Greatest Poker Player by Nolan Dalla and Peter Alson was published in 2005.

Baxter noted when Ungar first entered the room, Baxter did not believe he was his opponent because of Ungar's youthful looks and small stature.

Following an up and down first day, Ungar showed up for each subsequent day well rested and mentally sharp.

The fact he rarely drove could have possibly come from a time when Ungar purchased a brand new Mercedes sports car and drove it until the vehicle ran out of oil and broke down.

Ungar would race in to the restaurant, shovel the food down as fast as he could, throw cash for the entire meal plus a generous tip on the table and be ready to leave, even if the rest of his party had just barely started on drinks or appetizers.

Ungar was exhausted on the tournament's first day as he had been up for over 24 hours straight trying to raise or borrow enough money to play in the event.

Ungar was so highly regarded at this point that local bookies made him the favorite to win the tournament over the entire field, an extreme rarity.

Ungar spent all of his 1997 WSOP prize over the course of the next few months, mainly on drugs and sports betting.

In October 1998, poker player and former casino owner Bob Stupak made an arrangement to stake Ungar to several tournaments over a period of time.

" Ungar saw eating as something that had to be gotten over with so he could get back to gambling action.

Ungar also once won a large amount of money ( over $ 1. 5 million ) on a series of horse races.

During his poker career, Ungar won five WSOP bracelets, and over $ 3, 600, 000 in tournament pay with over $ 2, 000, 000 coming from cashes at the WSOP.

Steven Ungar compares Nausea with French novels of different periods, such as Madame de La Fayette's La Princesse de Clèves ( 1678 ), Honoré de Balzac's Le Père Goriot ( 1835 ), André Malraux's La Condition humaine ( 1933 ), and Annie Ernaux's Une femme ( 1988 ), all of which have scenes with men and women faced with choices and " provide literary expressions to concerns with personal identity that vary over time more in detail than in essence.

Ungar destroyed anyone who challenged him in a gin match including a professional widely regarded as the best gin player of Ungar's generation, Harry " Yonkie " Stein.

At one point midway through the first day of play, Ungar began to fall asleep at his table and told Mike Sexton ( who was also playing ) he didn't think he could make it.

In the scene, Oscar Madison was distracted from witnessing the play by an annoying phone call from Felix Ungar ( immediately after sarcastically predicting to fellow sportswriter Heywood Hale Broun that the Mets still had a chance to win if Mazeroski hit into a triple play ).

Ungar went on to win the main event for the record-setting third time.

After his victory, which was taped for broadcast by ESPN, Ungar was interviewed by Gabe Kaplan, and he showed the picture of his daughter to the camera, and dedicated his win to her.

In fact, Ungar did not even have a Social Security number until after his 1980 WSOP win and that was only because he was forced to obtain one in order to collect his winnings.

Ungar eventually had to leave New York due to gambling debts at local race tracks.

One of the reasons Ungar eventually took up poker exclusively was because gin action had dried up due to his reputation.

Ungar beat Stein 86 games to none in a high stakes game of Hollywood Gin, after which Stein dropped out of sight in gin circles and eventually stopped playing professionally.

Ungar built his bankroll up to as much as $ 300, 000 but eventually busted.

He was also at the final table of the 1997 World Series of Poker main event, won by Stu Ungar, eventually coming in third place, and earning $ 371, 000.

The song has been recorded by Bing Crosby with John Scott Trotter & his Orchestra ; Steve Conway with Jack Byfield & his Orchestra ; Thomas Hampson with Jay Ungar ( mandolin ), David Alpher ( piano ), and Molly Mason ( guitar ); John Leyton ; Jerry Lee Lewis ;, and Roy Orbison on the album In Dreams ( a top ten Australian single in 1964 ).

In addition to his role on The Sopranos, Imperioli has appeared in a number of films, including Goodfellas, Jungle Fever, Bad Boys, The Basketball Diaries, Clockers, Dead Presidents, Lean on Me, I Shot Andy Warhol, Last Man Standing, Shark Tale, High Roller: The Stu Ungar Story, and Summer of Sam, which he also co-wrote and co-produced.

* Alain, Alain on happiness, New York, Ungar, 1973.

Ungar was born to Jewish parents and raised on Manhattan's Lower East Side.

Ungar's drug problem escalated to such a point that during the WSOP main event in 1990, Ungar was found on the third day of the tournament unconscious on the floor of his hotel room from a drug overdose.

Ungar refused, citing several people he knew who had been to rehab previously who told him that drugs were easier to obtain in rehab than on the street ( the friends noted that drug dealers targeted rehab facilities specifically because there were so many addicts in one place ).

During the tournament, Ungar kept a picture of his daughter Stefanie in his wallet, and regularly called her with updates on his progress.

Ungar paid $ 48 per night for two nights and was found lying deceased on November 22, 1998, fully clothed with the television off and $ 800 of the remnants of a $ 25, 000 advance from Bob Stupak, who earlier in the month signed a contract with Ungar, offering to pay off his debts and finance his tournament play in exchange for future winnings.

On the final hand of the game, Matloubi tried to bluff Ungar all-in for $ 32, 000 on the river with a board of 3-3-7-K-Q.

Ungar was once on a hot winning streak and sent his longtime sports betting friend Michael " Baseball Mike " Salem enough money to pay for several months of his mortgage.

Ungar saw another stud game going on across the room and gave Sexton $ 1, 500 to go play in it.

Personal hygiene was also something that tended to be lost on Ungar.

A movie based on Ungar's life, High Roller: The Stu Ungar Story ( alternate title Stuey ), was made in 2003.