Poker News

Barry Greenstein

The way high stakes poker professional Barry Greenstein’s upcoming book began . . .

“Doyle Brunson asked me to do a chapter for the sequel he was planning for Super System, and I turned him down for about two years.”

But “Texas Dolly” didn’t give up, coming back to Greenstein another time or two. The 50-year-old Californian finally gave in. “I felt like I was insulting him, which I did not want to do because Doyle is kind of like the king of poker, but frankly, I had never wanted to get involved in telling other people how to play poker and Doyle’s first book Super System was already the best book out there.”

Anyway . . .

Greenstein agrees to take a stab at doing a chapter and started taking notes about a year and a half ago, in early 2003.

“Initially,” he says, “Doyle was only expecting about 20 pages from me, but by the time I was through I had over a hundred pages and gave it to Doyle and said just take what you like. He read it and comes back to me saying it is all good.”

Brunson offered Greenstein a couple of options. “He said you can pare it down or you can make it into your own book. I told him well, if you’re giving me that option than I’ll make it into my own book. Doyle’s book is technical, telling people how to play the games. The format I’m running with is after you know how to play the games, how to you turn that into making money.”

Whatever happens to the book, Greenstein has become poker’s best-known philanthropist over the last few years, winning bigmoney tournaments and then turning most of that cash over to charity.

His tournament prize money so far in 2004 totals more than $2.5 million. This includes $300,000 from this year’s World Series of Poker when he won the deuceto- the-7 $5,000 buy-in event. He also donated the $200,000 won in a no limit hold ‘em tournament at the Bellagio.

Last year’s wins include $1 million in a stud event at Larry Flynt’s Hustler Casino.

He’s been called a Robin Hood as the result of these gifts, but Robin Hood or not, others know him as the one of the best high stakes cash game players in the business.

“Recently my schedule has gone kind of nutty.” He’s decided it is important to hire a personal assistant to take care of some of the details associated with having a higher than ever profile.

Which is what many of the most successful high stakes poker players seem to have these days as they contend with business ventures that make them far more visible than even the best pokerpros of a few years ago ever dreamed of being. Greenstein says, “I mean, like, I’m getting a hundred e-mails a day from random places.”

Not a big deal by itself, but with his book scheduled for a summer 2005 publication, Greenstein finds it important to pay more attention to the questions people lob his way.

“The book is actually finished,” he says, “and I have had about 50 people read it - experienced players, occasional players and nonplayers.” It has been Greenstein’s goal to have a finished product with appeal for each of these groups.

But why publish next summer?

“There are disagreements about what changes should be made. My book is what I would call the first advanced poker book ever written. It’s really written for players who have a pretty good grasp of how to play poker, probably all forms of poker.

“Initially it was kind of directed at, let’s say, a fourand eight-hundred player or someone who had been a successful tournament player.”

Greenstein’s thought was to create a work that would help these players get to the next level, whatever that level might be.

“The next level for a fourand eight-hundred player would probably by one- and two-thousand or the games I prefer, which would be two and four or four and eight thousand.

“As for tournament players,” he says, “maybe they’re doing all right in the tournaments, but they are really struggling poker players because they are not able to beat the high limit cash games.”

Greenstein says his book takes a look at what might be missing from the games of such players. What do they need to get them to the next levels?

“Actually,” adds, “I think the book will be helpful to any player, helping them get to the next higher limit from wherever they happen to be.” That’s the way, Greenstein sees it, but he concedes there have been some differences of opinion with the publisher (Avery Cordoza) who thinks the book is not accessible to a wide enough audience to guarantee publishing success. It remains to be seen how some of these differences will be resolved. Whatever the outcome, Greenstein believes in what he’s created.

“When I say this is a high-level book, I don’t mean that from a mathematical perspective, it is highlevel from a psychological perspective. The technical stuff is not going to stop anyone from reading it.

Greenstein says it has been argued that some of its psychological insights will not mean much to people who are not planning on being professional players.

He’s been told the buying public consists largely of relative novices, not the experts who might read the book as something of a how-to field manual for survival.

How will these issues be resolved?

Greenstein shrugs, “I’m sure there are going to be some battles, but I don’t want to ruin it. I don’t want to dilute some of the material just so I can appease the publisher and make it more of a nursery rhyme.”

What most intrigues Greenstein so far is this: “Non-poker players have given me the best reviews of all. They skip over the poker parts and read the psychological parts.”

These non-poker playing “reviewers” have included people such as the business executives who said, “These are the same factors, issues I face; things like making deals and how to handle my family because I have a job that requires me to travel a lot.”

Greenstein maintains that players and non-players alike have also shown interest in his accounts of “Runyonesque” personalities and types of people found in the “poker society.” Understanding and handling people is every bit as important as having a good feel for the numbers associated with any of the games, Greenstein says.

“The world of high stakes poker and its allure are unfamiliar to most people. I’ve found they look at it like so much science fiction.” The point is, Greenstein says, “I’ve had extremely good reviews with the people I’ve tested it on, so I’m worried about watering it down.”

But he also acknowledges, “The publisher probably has his hand on the pulse of some readership issues to a greater degree than I do.” With such considerations in mind, Greenstein says he has already agreed to take out some of the math and move it to his website where people with an appetite for mathematical assertions can browse at their leisure.

The Rancho Palos Verdes, Ca., resident who retired in 1991 at the age of 36 after making a fortune in the software business, makes his living in high limit side games.

He’ll continue donating tournament winnings to a mix of charities that are mostly child-related, but admits to toying with the notion that he might like to challenge tournament sponsors to at least partially match some of his donations.

He doesn’t worry about trying to hang around in any single tournament event if the flow is not going his way. He’d rather get out and save himself for those side games where single pots may run into six figures.

He’s been a regular for several years in Hustler publisher Larry Flynt’s California games where four- and eight-thousand limits are not uncommon and a 10-12 hour session can mean players win or lose as much as a half-million.

Greenstein takes time for tournaments specifically to earn money for charity. The publicity generated by his giving has helped produce additional aid for some of the same groups.

During the Horseshoe’s 2004 World Series, he can often be found in the games at the Golden Nugget taking on the likes of poker legends such as Bellagio President Bobby Baldwin, Doyle Brunson, Chip Reese and Johnny Chan, to name a few. Anyone with a bankroll big enough to stand the heat is welcome.

Bellagio poker boss Doug Dalton likens Greenstein to the late two-time World Series champ Stu Ungar who jumped right into the big time, not finding it necessary to develop his skills in the small games.

Dalton jokes, “With Barry there never seemed to be any $3-$6 hold ‘em on the way up. A lot of people have the feeling he just sort of burst on the scene. It’s just kind of amazing.”

So how does he do it?

“Doesn’t matter how he does it,” says a player who did not want to be identified by name. “The point is he does it.”

A good sense of the math related to poker probably doesn’t hurt. Greenstein was a few hours short of a doctorate in mathematics from the University of Illinois when a combination of business and professional issues prompted him to abruptly change course. What he did was embrace the retirement opportunity that gave him time to play poker.

But he dismisses the notion he has been a consistent big winner in both tournaments and side games merely because he’s got a head for math.

“It doesn’t hurt to have a certain streak of fearlessness. Success in the big games is more a matter of psychology than it is the math.”

“Barry’s just a good player,” says Brunson, a twotime winner of the World Series. “He reads people about as well as anyone.”

How does Greenstein do it? “If I knew I’d do it myself,” grins veteran poker executive Eric Drache, who has played in some of the games where Greenstein was present. Drache has seen him emerge a winner countless times, adding, “Barry has an excellent sense of when to be aggressive.”

Greenstein smirks, “It doesn’t hurt to have a certain streak of fearlessness.” As for his charitable giving, Greenstein says it began as an effort to “teach my kids a lesson.” They had more than they needed. He wanted them to understand the squalid conditions that define life for millions of children around the world. So the Greenstein family decided to adopt two children, a boy and a girl to whom they sent monthly support.

And it grew from there. Greenstein’s research eventually led him to Children, Inc., a child sponsorship program affiliated with orphanages, schools and other such facilities and services in the U.S. and around the world.

“That’s my primary charity.”

Greenstein notes that his large donations to Children, Inc. and other needy groups also provide a helpful rationale for his time away from home. “The kids can tell people their father is out trying to do some good, rather than, he’s in Las Vegas playing poker.”

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