Barry Greenstein (born December 30, 1954, in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

) is an American professional

poker Poker is a family of comparing card games in which players wager over which hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, however in some places the rules may vary. While the earliest known form of the game w ...

player. 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 Caesars Entertainment. It dates its origins to 1970, when Benny Binion invited seven of the best-known poker pla ...

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 fi ...

. Greenstein donates his profit from tournament winnings to charities, primarily Children Incorporated, earning him the nickname "the

Robin Hood Robin Hood is a legendary heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature and film. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions of the legend, he is depic ...

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, it was created in 1979 by Benny Binion, the owner of the Horseshoe Casino, to preserve the names and legacies of the world's greatest ...

in 2011.

Personal life

After graduating from

Bogan High School William J. Bogan Computer Technical High School (also known simply as Bogan High School) is a public 4–year high school located in the Ashburn neighborhood on the southwest side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. Operated by Chicago Public Sch ...

, he earned a bachelor's degree in

computer science Computer science is the study of computation, automation, and information. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, information theory, and automation) to Applied science, practical discipli ...

from the

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univ ...

. He studied for a PhD 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, 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 (Spanish for "Green Sticks Ranch") is a coastal city located in Los Angeles County, California atop the bluffs of the Palos Verdes Peninsula, neighboring other cities in the Palos Verdes Hills, including Palos Verdes Estate ...

. 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 pro ...

, 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 The Poker Superstars Invitational Tournament was a series of no limit Texas hold 'em poker tournaments. The first season is available on NTSC DVD. It airs on Fox Sports Net in the United States, Rogers Sportsnet in Canada and Ftn in the United Ki ...

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 fr ...

''. 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 Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

. Greenstein has also won two World Poker Tour (WPT) titles: the Fifth Annual

Jack Binion Jack Binion is an American businessman. Binion is the son of casino magnate Benny Binion and worked for his father at Binion's Horseshoe, a casino and hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. Biography Binion became president of the Horseshoe in 1963 a ...

World Poker Open ($1,278,370), and 2006 WPT Invitational at the

Commerce Casino Commerce Casino 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 for 38% of Commerce's tax revenues for th ...

($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.Barry Greenstein
The Mob Poker Database 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 30th, 2008, and featured 55 poker championships in several variants. All ...

(WSOP), Greenstein cashed in six events 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 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

, 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 Vall ...

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 ** A citizen of Vietnam. See Demographics of Vietnam. * Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam ** Overse ...

. He also played online at

PokerStars PokerStars is an online poker cardroom that was a part of The Stars Group until it was sold to Flutter Entertainment on May 5, 2020. It can be accessed through downloadable poker clients for the Windows, macOS, Android and iOS. It is the large ...

, 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 dedicated room in casinos that is dedicated to playing poker and in function is similar to a car ...

's ''Team PokerStars''. He accepted a bet of $10,000 from 2+2 Poker Forums to say "lol donkaments" on an episode of ''

'', which he did after winning a hand against professional poker player

. 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 2018, his total live tournament winnings exceed $8,350,000. 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 por ...

's $1 million Seven-Card Stud event in 2003,Barry Greenstein – The Robin Hood of Poker – Poker Player
. PokerListings.com (December 30, 1954). Retrieved on October 22, 2011. he donated $440,000 to Children Incorporated – a gift of $1,000 to each of the charity's 440 employees.Malley, Mike O. (February 27, 2004
Barry Greenstein: A Modern-Day Robin HoodBy Allyn Jaffrey – Card Player Poker Magazine – Feb 27, 2004
Cardplayer.com. Retrieved on October 22, 2011. 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

Barry Greenstein
at

Team PokerStars A team is a group of individuals (human or non-human) working together to achieve their goal. As defined by Professor Leigh Thompson of the Kellogg School of Management, " team is a group of people who are interdependent with respect to info ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Greenstein, Barry 1954 births People 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