Meet Barry Greenstein

This column isn't humorous, but it is uplifting, so read it anyway. It's about a man named Barry Greenstein, who may be the best "unknown" poker player around, and very probably is the most generous and giving. He's amassed enough money from poker winnings to live very comfortably even though he donates all of his tournament winnings to charity.

What tournament winnings? Well, so far this year he has won Larry Flynt's $1 million one-table stud event at Hustler Casino, $100,000 for winning the $500 no-limit hold'em event at Commerce Casino's California State Poker Championship, $38,000 for winning the $500 no-limit hold'em event at the Taj Mahal, and $34,000 for winning the $3,000 stud championship at the Tropicana in Atlantic City. He's also a regular at the Hustler's $1,500-$3,000 stud game, and sits down with the likes of Doyle Brunson, Chip Reese, Lyle Berman, Bobby Baldwin, and Chau Giang in the $4,000-$8,000 mixed games during the World Series. Brunson also asked Greenstein to write a chapter for a revised edition of his Super/System book, and that turned into his own full-length poker book, code named Making Money at Poker, which he is now working on.

A low-profile guy who is not looking for publicity, Greenstein agreed to my doing this column only because it would call attention to his favorite charity – Children, Incorporated.

His charity involvement came about because he feared that his children, supplied with everything they wanted, were becoming materialistic. He wanted to set an example for them by buying things for needy kids. After checking out various organizations, he came across the non-sectarian Children, Inc., which aids needy children worldwide. He began sponsoring a group of kids in Kentucky. Then, he began thinking of the program coordinators, often on tight budgets themselves, who had medical bills, cars that needed fixing, and difficulty supporting their own kids' needs. After he won the Hustler event (actually pocketing $500,000 in profit after a deal with Flynt), he began envisioning a miniature Nobel Peace plan for the 400 coordinators, giving them $1,000 each. He pieced together what was left of his Hustler winnings after he had given a portion of it to relatives, added his Commerce winnings, and distributed it to the coordinators.

In the future, he has pledged all of his tournament winnings to charity, some through his own foundation, but most through Children, Inc.

A native of Chicago, Greenstein comes from a family that enjoyed card games such as hearts, gin rummy, and canasta. He also began playing a little poker, realized he was good at it, and at age 13 began making the rounds of home games, picking up $30-$50 a night. In 1984, he moved to California to get a "regular" job, because he was trying to get custody of his stepchildren, and his attorney advised him that he wouldn't stand much chance as a professional gambler. He landed in Silicon Valley and was one of five people in a newly formed company that eventually became known as Symantec. But Greenstein, who always enjoyed living extravagantly, also had several people to take care of, and his salary wasn't sufficient for his needs, so in 1988 he starting playing in the no- limit hold'em games in Palo Alto to support his job.

After two years of working/playing, he decided it was ridiculous to work so hard when there was so much money to be made playing poker. Also fearing that if he waited too long, some of the money would dry up, he started playing full time again in 1990.

Eventually, those games died and he had to look elsewhere. In 1991 he took a shot at the World Series championship event. He found himself at a starting table of Johnny Chan, Bobby Hoff, Carl McKelvey, Eskimo Clark, Erik Seidel, and Dewey Tomko – one of the toughest tables anyone had ever seen. On a break four hours later, Chan walked up to him and said, "Who are you, and where did you learn to play? I thought I knew all the good no-limit players."

At the end of the first day, Greenstein was the chip leader at his table. Terry Rogers, the Irish bookmaker, put him at 100-1 to win because he had never heard of him. He located Greenstein before the start of the second day, and Terry said he was going to go broke if Greenstein won, because many of the top players were betting on him.

He eventually came in 22nd and collected $8,100, which was less than his 10K buy-in. He was so upset, he went across the street to the Golden Nugget and promptly lost it all playing blackjack. When he got back to Palo Alto and walked into the Cameo Club, where he normally played, he found banners congratulating him, even though he had lost his entire 10K buy-in.

He has always been a cash games player who had never played more than 10 tournament events a year until this year, when he decided that donating tournament winnings would be helpful and would also generate exposure for Children, Inc. He has been a successful tournament player, but has not yet landed a spot at one of the televised final tables. When he does, he predicts that all of the more than 2,000 currently unsponsored children on the Children Inc. rolls will then have sponsors.

The current CI project Greenstein is helping to fund is the rebuilding of CI facilities around the world. For those interested in aiding Children, Inc, in addition to the minimum $24-a-month sponsorship, he recommends sending an extra $200 three times a year for each child: at the start of school, during the holiday season, and in the middle of spring. Of the $24 monthly fee, $3.50 goes to administration, $8.50 goes to advertising, fund-raising, and emergencies, and $12 goes to the children; and 100 percent of the money above the $24 monthly fee goes to the children. Of the total money received by CI, Greenstein points out, 83.8 percent went to the sponsored children or for services for them last year, but the figure will be higher this year because of his contributions. Those interested in aiding Children, Inc. may do so via children-inc.org or by calling (800) 538-5381.