Fascinating read even if poker's not your thing. Stu Ungar was an extraordinary character and the story of his life is more than just the tragic live fast, die young story of a supremely gifted individual unable to conquer his demons; it's also about compassion, family and camaraderie.

When Stu (broke, ravaged by drugs, having burned all his bridges) finally convinces Mike Sexton to loan him $300 so he can buy his daughter clothes for school, you believe him when he says that gesture, those $300, meant more to him than the $1,000,000 he won at the WSOP the prior year. It's Sexton's kindness, when nobody else would help Stu (justifiably considering how many people he borrowed money from ostensibly to play with, only to use it for drugs), and the way Stu cared for his daughter and adopted son, that make this more than just the story of how a guy wasted his talent. Frankly, if Ungar had only been about drugs and cards, his story would have no interest for me. The real tragedy isn't that the world lost a great card player, it's that his daughter lost her dad.