Stu Ungar

Best game: Gin rummy and poker tournaments
Weakness: Self control and substance abuse

Stuey was a relentless force. He played in and won more than twice as many hands as anyone else in any game in which he played. At the end of each session he was invariably either the big winner or he was broke. If he detected weakness in an opponent, he would take the pot away. He was a hard player to bluff, since he was an expert at figuring out when his opponent was on a draw that didn't get there. There are stories about great calls Stuey made, but I haven't heard any about great laydowns.

He wasn't much of a poker player when he won the first of his three WSOP final event bracelets. As Doyle Brunson commented, “If Stuey ever got top pair beat, he would have been knocked out.” Actually, Stuey picked up enough pots along the way that he could withstand occasional losses incurred against his short-stacked opponents.

Stuey was a hopeless steamer. Over his playing career he may not have been an overall winner in the side games and he often needed to be staked when he played. Towards the end, he was so messed up as a result of drug use that he was scared to play his own money. Stuey was generally regarded as the best in the world at gin rummy and he may have had the best record in no-limit hold'em tournaments. He won ten of the thirty no-limit tournaments he entered that had a buy-in of $5000 or more. There is no doubting the talent Stuey possessed, but the big question is how good he would have become if he hadn't been ravaged by drugs.

Amusing anecdote:

Stuey's compulsive gambling is legendary. The first time he stepped on a golf course, Jack Strauss gave him a putting lesson. An hour later, they were still on the practice putting green and Stuey had lost $80,000.

In the ‘80s, sportsbooks often had a $5000 limit. If you wanted to bet more, they would move the line a half point and allow you to make a second bet. If you liked the side opposite to Stuey, it was wise to get behind him at the sportsbook because the line might move five points to accommodate Stuey's $50,000 bet that was made $5000 at a time.

Thomas James (T.J.) Cloutier

Aggressiveness: 6
Looseness: 5
Short-handed: 6
Limit: 5
No-limit: 7
Tournaments: 7
Side games: 3
Steam control: 4
Against weak players: 8
Against strong players: 6

Best game: Tournament no-limit hold'em
Weakness: A seven on the craps table at the wrong time

Conventional wisdom is that T. J.'s non-poker gambling has limited his monetary success.

T.J. often shows his good hands because he likes to give the image that he is always there. His philosophy is: if you never get called, you will end up with all of the chips.

T.J. has probably played in and won more major tournaments than any other person.

Amusing anecdote:

When T.J and I first played together, we had discussed how I had played some no-limit hold'em in Houston in the ‘70s whereas he had played in Dallas. I moved in on someone with Ace-King. The player called with a pair of Queens and I won the race.

T.J. said, “I can see you learned to play in Houston. Those Houston players would come to Dallas and play that Ace-King, but they'd always end up against a pair of Aces. That's why we call that hand ‘Walking back to Houston.'”

Ted Forrest

Best game: Any form of seven-card stud
Weakness: Invests in losing players and failing businesses

Most people consider him to be a stud specialist, but he did win a WSOP bracelet in no-limit hold'em against a field of over 800 players. Ted is a very tricky player and is known for making great reads. If you want to know how it feels to be in the eye of a hurricane, play short-handed seven-card stud eight-or-better with Ted.

Bobby Baldwin Lyle Berman Doyle Brunson T.J. Cloutier Johnny Chan Annie Duke Sammy Farha Ted Forrest Chau Giang Barry Greenstein David Grey Gus Hansen Jennifer Harman-Traniello Dan Harrington Phil Hellmuth, Jr. John Hennigan Phil Ivey John Juanda Howard Lederer Daniel Negreanu David Oppenheim Chip Reese Erik Seidel Mimi Tran Stu Ungar Celebrity Players