Tuesday, Dec. 22, 1998 | 11:20 a.m.
The Clark County Coroner's office on Monday ruled Ungar's Nov. 22 death accidental based on the results of toxicology tests that came back from the lab Friday.
The drugs found in Ungar's system were cocaine, methadone and the pain-killer Percodan, Clark County Coroner Ron Flud said. He declined to release the amounts of the drugs, but said that no one drug by itself was enough to cause Ungar's death.
"The cause is accidental death by coronary atherosclerosis," Flud said. "The heart condition developed over a period of time. The attack was brought on by his lifestyle."
Coronary atherosclerosis occurs when not enough blood can be pumped through the heart muscle.
Flud said it was not uncommon to find a mixture of cocaine, Percodan and methadone in an autopsy of a drug user. Percodan is often used to bring a person down from his cocaine high so he can sleep. Methadone is given to heroine addicts to get them off the drug.
It is not known when Ungar, a three-time world poker champion, took the drugs that contributed to his death. Police investigating the scene, a room at the Oasis Motel, 1731 S. Las Vegas Blvd., said they found no drug paraphernalia at that location.
Ungar, who won the World Series of Poker $10,000 buy-in no-limit Texas hold 'em world title in 1980, '81 and '97 at Binion's Horseshoe, was 45 years old.
Recently, Ungar's 16-year-old daughter Stefanie Ungar told the Sun she constantly encouraged her father to seek help for his longtime drug addiction.
"I talked to him about it all the time and encouraged him to check into a rehab program," she said. "But he told me people don't understand what it's like when you have money -- you can't get away from it (cocaine). People who claimed to be his friends would come up to him and push it on him."
Ungar, who was born in New York City and raised on the city's Lower East Side, became a professional gambler at age 14, a year after his father, a bookmaker and bar operator, died.
Ungar became one of the world's top gin rummy players, winning thousands of dollars from gamblers four or five times his age. He came to Las Vegas in 1978, learned how to play no-limit Texas hold 'em and two years later won his first world poker title. He repeated that feat the next year.
But 16 years later, after winning and losing millions of dollars, Ungar was broke and needed the help of a friend to pay his way into the 1997 World Series main event, where he won the $1 million first prize.
Two months later, after paying off some of his mounting gambling debts and after suffering heavy losses on horse and sports wagers, Ungar was broke again.
He recently signed a contract with noted local gambler and Stratosphere hotel-casino founder Bob Stupak, who paid off Ungar's gambling debts, giving him a fresh start. Ungar, in turn, was to gamble with Stupak's money in hopes of reaping a profit on that investment with tournament victories and big scores in high-stakes side games.
Stupak said he gave Ungar $2,000 "walking-around money" just days before he died.
Ungar paid about $120 for the two days he stayed in the motel room. He was found lying face up in his motel bed on a Sunday. He had $800 in his pocket, police said.
PROPERTY -- An effort to diversify the city's economy has proved more costly than cost-effective, the Las Vegas City Council said Monday in voting to buy back space in the Las Vegas Technology Center from Continental Wire for $488,000.
"I don't want to spend any more money on this property," Mayor Pro Tem Michael McDonald said. "We've lost millions of dollars on this property."
A souring Asian economy hurt South Korean-based Continental and forced it to back out of the project in northwest Las Vegas at Cheyenne Avenue and U.S. 95. The company had paid $348,480 for eight acres in the center.
Interest, however, drove the re-purchase price up by $140,000, city staff told the council.
Continental bought the property for $1 a square foot -- just 25 percent of the rate elsewhere in the technology center. McDonald's alleged loss of millions can be attributed to the adjoining properties that the city sold for up to $4.50 per square foot.
The Continental property, therefore, could have brought in close to $1 million.
FRAUD -- Lenon Daryl Horne, 31, of Las Vegas, pleaded guilty Monday in Clark County District Court to making a false insurance claim.
Deputy Attorney General Gregory R. Hojnowski, with the Insurance Fraud Unit, said the felony conviction carries a maximum sentence of four years in prison plus a $5,000 fine.
District Judge Donald Mosley set a sentencing date of Feb. 3.
Hojnowski said Horne claimed he had been injured after riding go-carts at Mountasia Entertainment Center in Henderson. He filed a $1,500 claim with Lexington Insurance Co., Mountasia's insurer.
Horne is currently at the Nevada State Prison for revocation of probation resulting from an attempted burglary in July.
He was indicted on the insurance fraud charge in November.
FATAL ROBBERY -- A 21-year-old man who is believed to have been an accomplice in a botched robbery attempt that resulted in the death of his partner has been arrested.
Metro Police homicide Lt. Wayne Petersen said Las Vegas resident Nolan Narsha Kyle surrendered to detectives though his attorney at about 5 p.m. Monday.
Kyle has been booked for murder with a weapon and attempted robbery with a weapon.
Petersen said on Oct. 16 at about 10 p.m. two armed suspects attempted to rob a pizza restaurant in the 4300 block of East Tropicana Avenue.
The owner of the business pulled a weapon and fired two shots, hitting one of the suspects.
The suspect, identified as Gregory Floyd, 16, died at the scene and the second suspect fled on foot.
BATHROOM BANDIT -- A 37-year-old Las Vegas man believed to be the "Bathroom Bandit" was arrested early Saturday at the Triple Play Lounge, 1875 S. Decatur Blvd.
Metro Police robbery Lt. John Alamshaw said Norman D. Atherley, was booked into the Clark County Detention Center on seven counts of robbery with a deadly weapon and six counts of kidnapping with a deadly weapon.
The nickname was given to a man who has robbed seven taverns since Nov. 28. Each time the suspect entered a bar he would go into the bathroom and then emerge with a gun.
Alamshaw said a bartender thought Atherley looked like a composite drawing of the suspect and so he notified police around 1 a.m. Saturday.
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