Barry Greenstein
b. December 30, 1954
Known as the “Robin Hood of Poker,” Barry Greenstein learned to play poker as a child from his father, and supposedly he was making as much as $30-50 a night at the game when he was 12.
Growing up in the Scottsdale neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois, Greenstein pursued a career in computer science before becoming a professional poker player.
He graduated from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and for a short time pursued a PhD in mathematics, but he left before finishing his dissertation. In 1984, he launched a career with Symantec, an international corporation that sells computer security software (i.e. Norton), as a “founding” employee until he decided to retire at the ripe young age of 36 so he could pursue playing poker full-time.
Today, Greenstein lives in Rancho Palos Verdes, California. He got his nickname, “Robin Hood,” because he is known to give away all his tournament winnings to charity, which has already amounted to over $6 million.
Update: It seems that he does not donate his tournament winnings to charity anymore. His reason for this is that the side-games that used to exist don't anymore. He has to make his living playing tournaments now and can't afford to donate!
His primary cause is to help disadvantaged children, and most of his winnings go to Children, Incorporated, which provides food, clothing and school supplies to thousands of children in 21 countries, including the United States.
With two children of his own and three stepchildren, Greenstein is a true family man.
Although one of his stepsons, Joe Sebok, is also a professional poker player, he reportedly refuses to teach his younger sons and nephews how to play poker until they complete some type of educational degree.
One person Barry Greenstein did teach poker to was Mimi Tran, a well-respected professional poker player, and Greenstein’s former girlfriend.
He taught Tran how to play high-stakes poker in exchange for lessons on speaking Vietnamese. Barry wanted to be able to communicate with the Vietnamese players who often frequent the California casinos near his hometown. The two share in an on-going debate over who was the better teacher.
Greenstein claims that he was the better teacher, and Tran says that is true only because she was the better student.
Greenstein is known in the poker literary world for his contribution to Doyle Brunson’s Super/System 2, and for his own book, Ace on the River.
He carries a copy of his own book with him to every tournament he enters. He gives the copy to whichever person knocks him out of that tournament, after writing in it a detailed description of their hand and autographing it for the other player. Or at least he used do to that, I can imagine he has or will stop sometime soon ;)
Greenstein is a versatile player and doesn’t consider himself a specialist to one particular poker game. He is part of an elite group of players known in Las Vegas who plays in the town’s highest limit mixed-poker game ($4,000-$8,000).
Usually accompanied by Doyle Brunson, Phil Ivey and Bobby Baldwin, Greenstein enjoys playing Texas Hold ‘em, Stud and Draw Lowball.
Although Greenstein is not one to dole out endless advice on playing poker, he is well-known for one piece of advice that he gives to those who ask what it takes to become a successful poker player, and that is to “not become a poker player.”
He actually told this to me personally via PM over at 2+2 forums. It was a long time ago, several years. I did not follow his advice and I'm still alive ;)
I think his advice is good though. Poker can be pure hell sometimes.
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