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Barry Greenstein (born December 30, 1954, in
Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
) is an American professional
poker Poker is a family of Card game#Comparing games, comparing card games in which Card player, players betting (poker), wager over which poker hand, hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, with varying rules i ...
player and former mathematics
postgraduate student Postgraduate education, graduate education, or graduate school consists of academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications usually pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate (bachelor' ...
. He has won a number of major events, including three at the
World Series of Poker The World Series of Poker (WSOP) is a series of poker tournaments held annually in Paradise, Nevada, and since 2004, sponsored by Eldorado Resorts, Caesars Entertainment. It dates its origins to 1970, when Benny Binion invited seven of the best ...
and two on the
World Poker Tour The World Poker Tour (WPT) is an internationally televised gaming and entertainment brand. Since 2002, the World Poker Tour has operated a series of international poker tournaments and associated television series broadcasting playdown and the ...
. Greenstein donates part of his profit from tournament winnings to charities, primarily Children Incorporated, earning him the nickname "the
Robin Hood Robin Hood is a legendary noble outlaw, heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature, theatre, and cinema. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions o ...
of poker". He was elected into the
Poker Hall of Fame The Poker Hall of Fame is the hall of fame of professional poker in the United States. Founded in Las Vegas Valley, Las Vegas, it was created in 1979 by Benny Binion, the owner of the Horseshoe Casino, to preserve the names and legacies of the w ...
in 2011.


Personal life

After graduating from Bogan High School, he earned a bachelor's degree in
computer science Computer science is the study of computation, information, and automation. Computer science spans Theoretical computer science, theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, and information theory) to Applied science, ...
from the
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United States. Established in 1867, it is the f ...
. He studied for a
PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...
in mathematics without ever defending his completed dissertation. According to his book, ''Ace on the River'', Greenstein was doing well playing poker, but figured a more conventional job would improve his chances of adopting his stepchildren, so he went to work for the new startup company
Symantec Symantec may refer to: * Gen Digital, an American consumer software company formerly known as Symantec * Symantec Security, a brand of enterprise security software purchased by Broadcom Broadcom Inc. is an American multinational corporation, ...
, where he worked on their first product Q&A. He left the company in 1991 at age 36. Greenstein has two children and four stepchildren, and he resides in
Rancho Palos Verdes, California Rancho Palos Verdes is a coastal city in southern Los Angeles County, California, United States. Incorporated on September 7, 1973, the city has a population of 42,287 as reported in the 2020 United States census. The city sits atop the bluffs of ...
. His stepson,
Joe Sebok Joe Sebok (born March 25, 1977) is a professional poker player from San Francisco, California. His stepfather, Barry Greenstein, is also a professional poker player. He is known as "the Cub" because he calls Greenstein "Bear." Beginning profes ...
, with whom he started PokerRoad—a poker strategy and entertainment website—also played professionally for a few years.


Poker career

Greenstein has appeared in each of the first three series of Poker Superstars Invitational Tournament and all seven seasons of the GSN series ''
High Stakes Poker ''High Stakes Poker'' is an American cash game poker television program. The poker variant played on the show is no limit Texas hold 'em. The first four seasons ran from January 16, 2006 to December 17, 2007 on GSN. The next three seasons ran f ...
''. He has also appeared in the first three seasons of the late night series ''
Poker After Dark ''Poker After Dark'' is an hour-long poker television program that originally aired on NBC, premiering on January 1, 2007.
'' on
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...
. Greenstein has also won two World Poker Tour (WPT) titles: the Fifth Annual
Jack Binion Jack Binion (born 1937) is an American businessman and was chairman of Wynn Resorts (2006–2018). He is the son of casino magnate Benny Binion. Jack worked for his father at Binion's Horseshoe, a casino and hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada, Las Vegas ...
World Poker Open ($1,278,370), and 2006 WPT Invitational at the
Commerce Casino Commerce Casino, officially the Commerce Casino & Hotel is a cardroom located in the Los Angeles suburb of Commerce. With over 240 tables on site, Commerce Casino is the largest cardroom in the world. Established in 1983, the casino accounted ...
($100,000). He has also won two other WPT titles in special events: WPT Father and Sons Tournament, 2006 World Poker Finals; and WPT Poker by the Book: Chapter 2. As of 2008, he began donating his net winnings to charity. At the
2008 World Series of Poker The 2008 World Series of Poker was the 39th annual World Series of Poker (WSOP). Held in Las Vegas, Nevada, at the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino, the series began on May 30, 2008, and featured 55 poker championships in List of poker variants, s ...
(WSOP), Greenstein cashed in six events, including the H.O.R.S.E. $50,000 event, for a total of $768,461. He also finished second in the 2008 WSOP Player of the Year standings, behind
Erick Lindgren Erick A. Lindgren (born August 11, 1976, in Burney, California) is an American professional poker player. He has won two World Poker Tour (WPT) titles, two World Series of Poker bracelets, and more than $10,500,000 in tournament earnings during ...
. In
2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...
, Greenstein cashed five times at the World Series of Poker, including a 3rd place in the $10,000 Limit Hold'em Championship for $169,512 and a 15th place in the $50,000 Player's Championship. In 2005, Greenstein wrote a book titled ''Ace on the River''. Tuan Le, a WPT Season 3 champion, claims that book showed him how to succeed on the poker circuit. Greenstein is known for giving away a free copy of his book to the player who eliminates him in a tournament, including his autograph and details of the hand. Greenstein taught former girlfriend
Mimi Tran Thithi "Mimi" Tran (born July 5, 1960) is a Vietnamese-American professional poker player. Biography Tran was born in Nha Trang, Vietnam. After moving to the United States in 1982, Tran found work in the electronics industry in Silicon Valle ...
how to play poker in exchange for her teaching him how to speak
Vietnamese Vietnamese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia * Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam ** Overseas Vietnamese, Vietnamese people living outside Vietna ...
. He also played online at
PokerStars PokerStars is an online poker cardroom. It is the largest real money online poker site in the world, controlling over two-thirds of the total online poker market, and can be accessed through downloadable poker clients for Windows, macOS, Androi ...
, under the alias "barryg1" and was a member of the
cardroom A cardroom or card room is a gaming establishment that exclusively offers card games for play by the public. The term poker room is used to describe a room in casinos that is dedicated to playing poker and in function is similar to a card room. ...
's ''Team PokerStars''. He accepted a bet of $10,000 from 2+2 Poker Forums to say "lol donkaments" on an episode of ''
High Stakes Poker ''High Stakes Poker'' is an American cash game poker television program. The poker variant played on the show is no limit Texas hold 'em. The first four seasons ran from January 16, 2006 to December 17, 2007 on GSN. The next three seasons ran f ...
'', which he did after winning a hand against professional poker player
Erick Lindgren Erick A. Lindgren (born August 11, 1976, in Burney, California) is an American professional poker player. He has won two World Poker Tour (WPT) titles, two World Series of Poker bracelets, and more than $10,500,000 in tournament earnings during ...
. After the initial $10,000, he also received a further $45,000 in donations from other charitable poker players who were amused by the bet.


World Series of Poker bracelets

As of 2023, his total live tournament winnings exceed $8,500,000. His 102 WSOP cashes account for $3,148,034 of those winnings.


Philanthropy

Greenstein often uses his poker winnings to further his philanthropic and charitable interests, earning him the "Robin Hood of Poker" nickname. After winning $770,000 at
Larry Flynt Larry Claxton Flynt Jr. (; November 1, 1942 – February 10, 2021) was an American publisher and the president of Larry Flynt Publications (LFP). LFP mainly produces pornographic magazines, such as '' Hustler'', pornographic videos, and three p ...
's $1 million Seven-Card Stud event in 2003, he donated $440,000 to Children Incorporated – a gift of $1,000 to each of the charity's 440 employees. In 2006, Greenstein announced that he would be donating net earnings from tournaments to charity. "Until now, I was donating the pay-off each time I cashed but I can't afford to continue doing that. I didn't anticipate the growth and expense of tournament poker," he said.


Bibliography

*


References


External links


Card Player profileGlobal Poker Index profile

Hendon Mob profilePokerNews profileWPT profileWSOP profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Greenstein, Barry 1954 births Game players from Chicago American poker players American gambling writers American male non-fiction writers Jewish American sportspeople Living people Gen Digital people World Poker Tour winners World Series of Poker bracelet winners Poker Hall of Fame inductees 21st-century American Jews