Stuey

2003
R
2h

IMDb RATING

6.0/10

2.4K

YOUR RATING

Play trailer1:45

1 Video

11 Photos

Biography Drama

The story of poker legend Stuey Ungar. A gambler by the age of 10, Ungar won millions playing card games.The story of poker legend Stuey Ungar. A gambler by the age of 10, Ungar won millions playing card games.The story of poker legend Stuey Ungar. A gambler by the age of 10, Ungar won millions playing card games.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.0/10

2.4K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 3 wins total

Videos1

Trailer 1:45

High Roller: The Stu Ungar Story

Photos10

+ 6

User reviews35

6.02.3K

Featured reviews

7ireadbooks-38813

The Game of Life

This little movie surprised me. It's deeply flawed, cheap looking, but it has a heart and even a message. Stu was a fantastic but narrow talent, possibly autistic. He was great at games, but not the Game of Life. The man just couldn't do people, and vanished into a haze of booze and drugs. Being so talented he was never forced to develop as a rounded person. Imperioli did yeoman work, and the rest of the cast is interesting if not inspired. The real Stu Unger skipped a grade he was so sharp. But he dropped out in the tenth grade and pursued his dream. I thought the movie captured his spirit and the spirit of that unusual city, Las Vegas.

5shark-43

High Roller Rolls Snake Eyes

Even though Michael Imperioli tries his hardest, the screenplay & the direction are so bad that he ends up just shuffling instead of dealing. It doesn't help that the flashback scenes to when Stu was little have not one ounce of 1966 in it - plus the kid actor playing Stu is not very good - all you see his him acting, the Dad acting, you don't believe any of it, none of it seems real. And knowing about the real Stu Unger makes you even more disappointed with the film. His real story is tragic and fascinating, while this film is just lifeless and by the numbers. The wardrobe, the Venetian blinds lighting, the forced "casino pop songs" it all screams student film. I feel bad for Michael Nouri - they gave him nothing to play but cliches.

4harvard_guy

One of the great Poker tragedies

Wow, i just witnessed one of the greatest poker tragedies and I'm not talking about the premature death of the great stu ungar. This film I'm sorry to say was terrible. Absolutely terrible. A true tragedy in filmaking history. Well maybe I'm being a little harsh but unless you have some interest in the life of stu ungar then don't even consider coming near this one. And those that do have an interest in his life will find that most parts were trivialised and made out to be great novelty scenes. I watched it because of Stu UNgar but nearly wanted to end myself like he did while watching this movie 4 stars for effort but unpleasantly painful

4jtdeible-1

Average movie and nothing like his life.

Well, the movie was no terrible, but whomever created the screen play did not do a good job of even creating the essence of unger. This movie was slightly below average and did not tell the story correctly on one of the most interesting persons ever born. I suggest reading the book "one of a Kind" the real unger story. They left out huge parts of his life. They also at times did not understand the real caractor that he was. The actual facts of his life were at times out of order. And in the end they really did not portray the actual personality that he did have. So please don't watch the movie; read the book. By the way I'm not just some prick who feels you have to stay 100% to the real story, but they did not even come close!!!

6lavatch

A Sobering Look at Gambling

This film appeared on cable television under the title of "High Roller." It is a well-crafted biographical portrait of three-time world champion poker player Stu Ungar. In life, Stu's nickname was "The Kid," and the film chronicles the descent of an intelligent young man with great promise, who becomes addicted to gambling and ruins all of that potential. As Stu, Michael Imperioli delivers an engaging and credible performance, capturing the essence of a life spiraling out of control from the craving of high-stakes gambling. The cast surrounding Imperioli is excellent, especially veteran actor Pat Morita, who plays a Las Vegas gambling impresario. The film's production values fall somewhere between a competent made-for-television movie and a workmanlike low-budget feature film, attempting valiantly to convey the period styles of the final four decades of the twentieth century. There is one revealing scene with documentary footage of the classic Las Vegas Sands Hotel being imploded and crashing to the ground. That moment vividly sums up of the sad life of Stu Ungar.

Trivia
The scene where DJ (Joe La Due) bluffs his opponent, Mario, off of pocket Kings, while holding 7-2 off-suit, is based upon an actual hand that occurred between Jack "Treetop" Straus and an unknown opponent. The story goes, that while playing in a high stakes cash game, Straus had won several pots in row and decided that he would play the "rush" and raise the next hand regardless of what his cards were. When he looked down at his hole cards, he found that he'd been dealt 7-2 off-suit, the worst starting hand in Texas Hold'em. But he decided to raise anyway, he was called by a single opponent, and the flop read; 7 3 3. Straus bet and his opponent re-raised, indicating an over-pair to the board. Straus decided to call, in the hopes that he could perhaps bluff his opponent off of his hand on the turn or river. The turn brought a 2. It was no help to Straus though, as he could only play his two pair sevens and threes. The deuce didn't play. And it also meant that if his opponent did in fact have an over-pair, such as Kings or Queens, that Straus was way behind. Straus decided to bet again on the turn anyway, which made his opponent seriously consider whether to call or fold. Straus knew that if he were called, his chances of outdrawing his opponent were very slim, with only one card to go. After several minutes, Straus offered a proposition to his opponent, for $25 his opponent could choose either one of Straus' hole cards and Straus would show it to him. After more consideration, the opponent finally decided to take the deal, he tossed Straus $25 and chose a card, it turned out to be the deuce. Straus' opponent deduced that since he showed him one card, the other must be of the same value and so, he naturally assumed that Straus must have had pocket deuces, giving him a full house, deuces full of threes. It was considered one the most celebrated bluffs in all of poker history.

Goofs
When Stuey first walks into a casino when he arrives in Las Vegas, the scene is supposed to take place in 1973. However the video slots on the other side of the glass doors he enters weren't invented until a couple decades after.