Barry Greenstein (born December
30, 1954 in Chicago, Illinois) is a professional poker player. He was exposed to
poker at a young age by his father. After graduating from Bogan High School, he
earned a bachelor degree in computer science from the University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign. He studied for a PhD in mathematics, but never defended his
completed dissertation. He worked for Symantec until retiring in 1991 at age 36
when he went back to playing poker full time. Greenstein has two children and
four stepchildren, and resides in Rancho Palos Verdes, California. His stepson,
Joe Sebok, with whom he started PokerRoad, a poker strategy and entertainment
website, is also a professional poker player.
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 how to play poker in exchange for
her teaching him how to speak Vietnamese. He also plays online at PokerStars,
under the alias "barryg1" and is a member |
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of the cardroom's Team PokerStars. He
was also bet $10,000 by the 2+2 Poker Forums to say "lol donkaments" on an
episode of High Stakes Poker, which he did after winning a hand against Erick
Lindgren. 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.
Poker career
Greenstein has appeared in each of the first three series of Poker Superstars
Invitational Tournament and all five seasons of the GSN series High Stakes
Poker. He has also appeared in the first three seasons of the late night series
Poker After Dark on NBC. Greenstein has also won two World Poker Tour (WPT)
titles: Fifth Annual Jack Binion World Poker Open ($1,278,370), and 2006 WPT
Invitational at the Commerce Casino ($100,000). And two other WPT titles in
special events: WPT Father and Sons Tournament, 2006 World Poker Finals; and WPT
Poker by the Book: Chapter 2. At one time, Greenstein donated his gross
tournament winnings to charities, primarily Children, Incorporated, and he is
sometimes called the Robin Hood of poker. As of 2008, he began donating his net
winnings to charity. At the 2008 WSOP, Greenstein cashed in 6 events for a total
of $768,461. He also finished second in the 2008 WSOP Player of the Year
standings behind Erick Lindgren. As As of 2009, his total live tournament
winnings exceed $6,900,000. His 44 cashes as the WSOP account for $2,259,097 of
those winnings. |
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