Barry Greenstein: A Modern-Day Robin Hood
By Allyn Jaffrey

Barry Greenstein fondly remembers playing cards with his mother after school when he was a young boy. His mother was gracious, loving, and caring. There wasn't anything she wouldn't do for her little boy. Barry wanted to grow up and make his mother proud. He dreamed of becoming an eccentric philanthropist. Of course, in the third grade, that meant making so much money that he had enough to give away! The story about Barry Greenstein is the story about a dream come true.

Besides the unique factor of having won two tournaments that each paid more than $1 million in less than a year, Barry Greenstein distinguishes himself by donating every penny of his tournament winnings to charity – every penny. Some of the charities, like his former high school, are not even deductible, and he ends up paying taxes on these donations.

Barry is humble, reserved, and not looking for publicity. He only agreed to be interviewed for this story so that he could give a voice to his favorite charity, Children, Inc.

Barry's passion is children – protecting them, helping them, and affording children all over the world the basic needs they would not otherwise have. The impetus for this passion began years ago, when he feared that he might not have instilled in his own beloved children the compassion for others that his parents bestowed upon him. In an effort to pass this legacy on to his own children, Barry began researching charities until he discovered Children, Inc.

Children, Inc. is a child sponsorship program, affiliated with schools, orphanages, and welfare centers in the United States and all over the world. Children, Inc. prides itself on providing food, clothing, and educational needs to children who live in unfathomable poverty.

Jeanne Clarke Wood founded Children, Inc. in 1964. Compassion for needy children was bred in her, as her parents, Dr. and Mrs. J. Calvitt Clarke, were noted philanthropists during their lifetimes. Since 1964, the organization has grown from one small project in Guatemala to 15,000 children in 288 projects in 21 countries around the world.

The children helped by Children, Inc. are orphans, abandoned children, or children with only one parent. Some have both parents who, because of illness or misfortune, cannot support their families.

Barry's first project was to sponsor a boy and a girl the same ages as his two youngest children. He and his kids sent clothes, toys, money, pictures, and letters to the children in Kentucky. It was not easy to buy the appropriate clothing, since California winter apparel is not warm enough for Kentucky. Also, Barry's children tended to choose items that were too upscale for their Appalachian counterparts. Eventually, Barry decided it was more practical to send $200 three times a year for each sponsored child. Every child in the CI program has a coordinator who takes any donated money and uses it to buy necessities for the children. Eventually, Barry's family went to Kentucky to meet the coordinator and the children they had been helping.

The experience was extraordinary. Children, Inc. has a motto that states: "You can change the world, one child at a time." Barry and his children were blessed to experience how amazing it is to truly make a difference in another person's life.

Barry's generosity did not end there. An incredibly compassionate idea was smoldering and slowly beginning to take form. Barry had realized that coordinators in these impoverished areas often bought clothes and toys for the sponsored children that they could not afford for their own families. The more Barry looked into the situation, the more his heart strings were pulled by the fact that benevolent people all over the world were donating their time to help needy children, when they themselves lived below the poverty line.

Barry learned that there were approximately 440 coordinators in 21 countries, generously and lovingly giving of their time to help children. He began thinking about the fact that it is one thing to have wealth and share it, but quite another to be so giving when one is struggling. Then, the most amazing idea came to him and he knew what he must do.

Barry played in Larry Flynt's $1 million stud event at Hustler Casino in March of 2003 and won it. In the end, he and Larry Flynt split up the money, with Barry taking the lion's share. Barry gave money and extravagant gifts to friends and family members; with the balance, he did the unthinkable. He donated a gift of $1,000 to each of the 440 workers in Children, Inc. who gave of their time and effort in 21 countries all around the world.

Emotion-filled letters of gratitude began pouring in. Barry was kind enough to allow me to take home more than 400 precious letters, which he kept safe in a huge plastic-covered box in a cabinet in his study. Each letter told a powerful story of suffering and compassion. People from all over the world wrote in every language to tell Barry that God had performed a miracle through him. Letter after precious letter expressed deep gratitude and shock at Barry Greenstein's kindness. They couldn't believe that a human being somewhere in the world cared about their efforts to protect and take care of children. Many people expressed that if Barry could share the wealth, then each recipient should also share the wealth, as many did. Barry told me that through these letters that trickled in day after day, he received so much more than he gave.

The letters came from all over the world, including the United States, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chili, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Honduras, Nicaragua, Peru, Uruguay, India, Kenya, Korea, Beirut, Lebanon, Sri Lanka, Okinawa, Japan, El Puerto, Spain, Paraguay, and Nigeria.

A 71-year-old woman wrote from Paraguay explaining that she understood the money was for her to keep, but that she hoped Barry didn't mind if she used it for those less fortunate than herself. Besides being the principal of a school with 700 indigent children, she also ran an orphanage with 100 girls. She explained that every 15 days, she goes to the Paraguayan countryside where 45 families have no homes and live along the highway. They have no potable water, nor food. She begs for food to give to these people in order that they may eat. She did promise one thing: For herself, she would buy a water bag for her feet, because in the winter it was so cold at night that her freezing cold feet kept her awake.

A man in Nigeria explained that they live in an area that is so poor that the greatest need is for water. He explained that after 53 years of hardship, they now have a borehole at 220 feet yielding 6 feet of water. He is going to use Barry's money to construct an overhead tank so that the water will flow into the orphanage.

A touching letter came from an impoverished volunteer who explained that when she and her children step outside their trailer in the morning, they step into puddles of mud and the kids go to school with muddy shoes every day. She intended on using part of the money to buy gravel to put right outside her trailer. She also intended to buy new tires so that her old car would be safe for her own children.

One woman said that she intended to share the money with other women at the school who were helpers. She said if she ever met Barry, she would hug his neck and make him her favorite meal, pinto beans and fried potatoes. She explained that she usually can't afford meat, so her family lives on pinto beans.

Another recipient wrote that she was so excited because she just had a conversation with the nurse at the school about how to get emergency clothing for the children next year. Some of the children are so poor that they come to school in the winter with no socks and inadequate clothing for their small and vulnerable bodies. She spent her thousand dollars buying emergency clothing for the children.

In third-world countries in South America and places like Sri Lanka and India, $1,000 is so much money that the recipients couldn't even cash the checks! Either there wasn't a bank that could cash such a big check or the people feared they might get killed over $1,000. They sent the checks back and other arrangements had to be made.

One woman wrote from Bolivia saying that she cried tears of joy that someone in another part of the world would care about her. She prayed that Barry would reap as much kindness as he has sown.

When I read the letters and told Barry how overwhelmed I was by his generosity, he frowned and said: "The people all over the world who give their time and effort are the real heroes." Barry just feels fortunate to be in a position to help. He invites you to visit the Children, Inc. website located at http://www.children-inc.org/.

On Jan. 29, 2004, Barry Greenstein won $1,278,370 at the fifth-annual Jack Binion World Poker Open championship event at the Gold Strike Casino in Tunica, Mississippi, and was afforded another opportunity to donate all of his tournament winnings. He explains: "These contributions are the best things I have ever done in my life."

His explanation of the win is a sweet one. For the last 10 years, there have been two women responsible for his happiness, both of whom still add untold value to his life. One is his longtime girlfriend and now most treasured friend, Mimi Tran; the other is Alex Vuong, his cherished live-in girlfriend until recently.

When Barry met Mimi, she was someone he could talk to at a tough time in his life. Mimi was a $3-$6 hold'em player. Barry made a deal with Mimi. Barry would teach Mimi how to play poker and Mimi would teach Barry how to speak Vietnamese. Barry wanted to be able to communicate with the Vietnamese players who frequent the California casinos.

Barry and Mimi would go for long drives. On one part of their route, Barry would teach Mimi poker; on the way home, Mimi would teach Barry Vietnamese. After Mimi became a fabulous poker player, Barry and Mimi had an ongoing debate. Barry said he speaks Vietnamese at the level of a $3-$6 poker player, but she has become a successful high-limit player. He says he is clearly a better teacher than she is, but Mimi says it is because she is a better student than he is.

Mimi and Barry were two fiercely independent people. They were sounding boards for one another and their relationship eventually grew into a lifelong, dedicated friendship.

Another woman came into Barry's life, Alex Vuong. She was devoted to Barry and took care of him and his children. Alex was Barry's behind-the-scenes helper. She loved him unconditionally and helped him in all of his endeavors. Last year was Barry's biggest year in poker. He won millions, and believed that Alex was largely responsible because she took such good care of him. Because Alex's life revolved solely around Barry, eventually she felt unfulfilled and they lovingly parted.

Subsequent to that day, Barry did not do well in any tournaments. He went to three World Poker Tour events without Alex and got knocked out on the first day each time. He seemed to lose even when he went in with the best of it. In Tunica, he was expecting the same result and made arrangements to fly home. Then, something happened. Down to $2,500 with an hour to go in the first day, Barry moved in with a straight draw, got lucky, and won. Two more drawouts later and Barry ended the first day with almost $30,000. He sent a message to Alex asking if anything different had happened to her. She called him and he explained that he just didn't feel like playing poker, even though he wanted to win for charity. Alex asked him to win the tournament for her. They made a deal that if he made it to the final table, she would fly out. For the next few days, Barry played well enough to remain in the tournament, and by his own accord, he got lucky every single time there was a matchup. Instead of taking risks that might increase his chance of winning, he was playing conservatively in order to maximize his chance of making it to the final table. And that he did.

Alex flew out to support him and he could do no wrong. Humbly, he says he won because he was lucky and not because of his skill. During a crucial hand, Barry had A-K, James Tippin had Q-Q, and Chip Reese, who was short-stacked, had the K 5. There was $2.4 million in the pot and Barry won it, busting both men. Barry believed that with Alex behind him, he was unstoppable. With fine-tuned skill and his lucky lady in the audience, he became the next million-dollar victor.

After tipping the dealers, Barry cashed out $1.24 million. Half of it will go to Children, Inc. Some of the money will go to Victor Ramdin's favorite charity, Guyana Watch, as both men previously made a deal that they would donate to one another's favorite charity. Barry intends to visit Guyana this summer. (Victor Ramdin was the gentleman who made it to the final table at the Sands in New Jersey and used some of his winnings to pay off his parents' mortgage.)

Money has already been given to one of Alex's favorite causes, the Rainbow Shelter for battered women and children. A donation was made to The Peninsula Education Foundation in Palos Verdes, and also to the mathematics department at the University of Illinois to help graduate students with their research. Some of the money will go to Barry's high school, Bogan High School in Chicago, Illinois, which has a room with a sign that reads: "The Barry Greenstein Computer Room."

Barry has played poker since he was a young child. His dad was a winning poker player in the Army and gave Barry pointers. At age 13, Barry often made $30-$50 a night playing poker in home games. By the time he was 20, he had told his mother he was a professional poker player. His mom asked, "How could such a thing happen?" Barry had to remind her that they played cards together almost every day after school when he was young!

Barry was a precocious child and developed his own computer software at the tender age of 15. He got his B.S. in computer science and attended the University of Illinois, where he worked on his Ph.D. in mathematics. He was making big money playing poker while slowly working on his Ph.D.

After 10 years in the Ph.D. program, Barry was nearly done, when he met and fell in love with his wife, Donna. She had three wonderful kids. Their lawyer explained to Barry that if they wanted custody of the children, Barry needed a respectable job. Barry loved those kids and was ready to change his whole life around in order to get custody of them. He found a job in Silicon Valley with a startup company called Symantec. Before he took the job, he did two things. He checked out the poker games in the area and extracted an agreement from Symantec allowing him time off to finish his Ph.D. He found great poker games at the Cameo Club in Palo Alto, and thereafter accepted the job offer. Barry and his wife got custody of her three kids, and they had two more of their own, Nathaniel, born in 1987, and the lovely Melissa, born in 1988.

In June of 1984, Barry told the executives at Symantec that he needed two months off to finish the rewriting and typing of his Ph.D. thesis. They told him that if he left, the company would fold. Putting his goals aside, he agreed to stay until the software he was working on was finished. The database and word processing program, Q&A, won many awards in 1986.

Soon thereafter, they found out his wife had multiple sclerosis. Then, Melissa began having liver problems, which eventually necessitated a number of surgeries, culminating in a liver transplant. This was a trying time in Barry's life. He needed a job without constraints so that he could properly care for his family. He left Symantec and resumed his poker career.

Years later, Barry and his wife realized things were not working and decided to split. Barry offered her everything they had. He only wanted custody of the kids. Since she couldn't take care of them, it seemed like a fair proposition. She decided that she needed a lawyer. When all was said and done, Barry explains that all the money was split 50-50. His wife got 50 percent and the other 50 percent went to her lawyer. Actually, much of the money went to the court system, psychologists, and all of the professionals who needed to be paid during the three-year battle. Barry got custody of his kids. He wanted to raise them right.

One of the things Barry is certain he did right was to share his involvement in charity work with his kids, so they could see that there are things more important than the small issues in their own lives. Besides their involvement in Children, Inc., he has taken them to shelters and even served meals on holidays (not often enough, in his own words). Barry also wanted his children to appreciate that when he is off winning a tournament for charity, his absence and their corresponding sacrifice serves a higher purpose.

As a matter of fact, in the poker book he is currently writing, Barry dedicates the book to the children of gamblers, who may have wanted to play catch when their parent was involved in a gambling activity, and he apologizes to his own kids for the times he may have failed them.

Barry didn't know he was going to write a poker book. Two years ago, Doyle Brunson asked Barry to write a chapter for the updated version of Doyle's famous book, Super/System. Barry found out that Doyle extended the invitation only because Barry is educated, which didn't sit well with Barry and he declined. Barry smiles when he explains: "Then, at the 2003 World Series of Poker, I beat up the big game pretty good." The big game was a $4,000-$8,000 mixed game with the likes of Doyle Brunson, Chip Reese, Lyle Berman, Bobby Baldwin, and Chau Giang. Doyle told Barry he was the biggest winner in the biggest game. Then, when Doyle extended Barry an invitation to write a chapter in his book, Barry was flattered and explains: "I couldn't turn down the king of poker." He told Doyle he would start taking notes about what he knows about making money at poker. Before he knew it, he had written a comprehensive manuscript for a great poker book.

Although some people think Barry recently burst upon the poker scene, he has actually been a very successful player since the '70s. He has become well-known as a winning player in the biggest cash games. He might be seen playing in the Hustler's $1,500-$3,000 stud game on the weekends, or in a $4,000-$8,000 mixed game when he can find one.

Because of the charity angle, he played in more than 40 events in 2003 and has now gained a presence on the tournament circuit. Last year alone, Barry won Larry Flynt's $1 million one-table stud event at Hustler Casino; he won $100,815 in the $500 no-limit hold'em event at Commerce Casino's California State Poker Championship; he won $33,900 in the $500 no-limit hold'em event at the Taj Mahal and $34,200 in the $3,000 stud championship at the Tropicana in Atlantic City; and $8,000 in the 2003 Grand Slam of Poker, just to name a few! Barry Greenstein is a winner at poker and a winner at life.

When Barry was 11 years old, he watched his mother playing gin rummy with his 7-year-old brother. He looked at his mother's cards, saw that she had gin in her hand but didn't lay it down, and sternly said: "Mom, you're cheating!" His mom looked tenderly at Barry and said: "Shhhh. Do you think I didn't do that for you?" Barry knows from where his confidence comes. It comes from a loving mother who always made Barry win. If Barry's mother were alive to see him today, she would be so proud of her modern-day Robin Hood.