Rumor-Busting With Barry Greenstein

You’ve heard all the myths and misinformation about Barry Greenstein. Now, get the truth–straight from the player himself

Author: Lena Katz

Low-key and no-nonsense, with the sartorial style of a CPA and a mind like a military computer, Barry Greenstein reminds you of every tough-cookie professor you ever had in school. But Greenstein’s about a million times cooler than the average college professor. He’s a famous philanthropist, a legendary cash game player, an occasional TV star–and one of the most misquoted men in poker. We gave Barry a chance to correct some of those misquotes, myths and rumors–and did he ever take it. And did we ever take notes! Now, we’re just waiting for our grade….

Rumor: Barry Greenstein made millions as one of the founders of Symantec.
“I wish it were true. I got a lot of satisfaction working at Symantec, but it was a big pay cut from being a poker player. I had children, and it seemed like a better lifestyle for my family.

“I played poker for my whole life from the age of 12–even while I was at Symantec–but because I worked so hard at Symantec, I didn’t get to play very often. When I got breaks between projects, I would play poker. I actually had to play poker between projects to supplement my income.

“Then Hold ‘Em became legal in California, and No-Limit Hold ‘Em was my strongest game. Once that became legal, I was leaving too much money on the table not playing poker, so I finished my last project and went back to playing full time.”

Rumor: Barry Greenstein gives all his profits to charity.
“I’m a professional poker player. My work is playing in side games. The last few years I started playing in tournaments, ‘cause I got this idea that I could donate tournament winnings to charity and also if I did well, I could publicize the charities that I was giving to, and then other people would donate to them as well.

“I’ve spent almost a million dollars each of these past two years on expenses and tournament entries, and when I’ve won, I’ve given my money away. It’s definitely put a dent in me financially. So this year instead of giving all my tournaments winnings away, at the end of the year, I’ll see what I’ve made from tournaments and give away the net profits.

“I always give half my tournament money to Children, Incorporated. Usually the other money goes to other organizations that help children because I like helping children the most.”

Rumor: Barry Greenstein is the most profitable cash game player in the world.
“Um. I had a good run from about 1997 to 2004 where I think that was true. But when people ask me who the most successful cash game players of all time were, I always say Doyle Brunson and Chip Reese. They are the ones who have played in the biggest games since the ‘70s. They’ve taken on all comers and they’ve obviously done well, because they’ve never had to go down to a lower limit. I’ve done well enough to where I’ve been able to give away lots of money to charity and take care of my family.”

Rumor: Barry Greenstein is the best “unknown” player in the world.
Yes, well, that was written initially because I didn’t play tournaments. The public knows only about who’s on television. So, until I made a televised final table, I was, from the public’s perspective, an unknown player–but from the pro poker player’s perspective, I was a well-known player.

Rumor: Barry Greenstein doesn’t really like playing poker.
“Poker is my job, and it’s a good job. The word “job” doesn’t bring up nice feelings — it’s something you have to do. I like my job. I also enjoyed being a computer programmer…

“I’m certainly not a pleasure player. I don’t play poker for the enjoyment. I do play for the money. Basically, if I didn’t need the money, I would stop working…and for me, the working is the side games.

“Even if I was financially independent, I would still play some tournaments, particularly the WSOP and the WPT, because it’s a lot of fun. I enjoy playing in those, and there’s a lot of emotional energy. A lot of highs and lows.”

Rumor: Barry Greenstein won a million bucks off Larry Flynt.
Over the course of years, Larry and I have exchanged millions. First of all, we play in a cash game together, and I have won money in that cash game. Not necessarily off Larry Flynt—he’s been a pretty tough opponent. But Larry and I were the top two finishers in a $125K buy-in tournament. I won, we split, I cashed $770K, he cashed $230K.

Rumor: Barry Greenstein appears on reality television shows like Daisy Does America.
“Well, I didn’t know I was appearing on a reality TV show. They tricked me and told me they were doing a documentary about me.

“At least once a month, I get asked to go on a TV show or to do some TV interview, and I’ve been on some poker shows. Like many poker players, I’ve even appeared in a couple movies (Lucky You and No Limit, both coming out in 2006).

“The producer of [Daisy Does America] said, ‘We want to show people what a day in the life of a professional poker player is like.’ So I said, ‘Okay, I can take a couple hours and talk to you guys.’

“I didn’t know what was going on, except the person who was interviewing me was hitting on me a lot. I told my son Joe, ‘You know, this girl’s hitting on me big time’. He says, ‘No, she’s just acting like that to get the interview.’ He was kind of making fun of me. But [in retrospect] I realize it was all a setup for the show.

“Next we go to a romantic dinner. Then we’re in the Venetian, and she said she thought it would be really romantic to go in the gondola, and to kiss under the bridge. They told me they wanted to show the lighthearted side of the poker player. By now Daisy and I had become friends, so I said ‘Okay.’ I was taking it easy–my girlfriend’s not jealous. But THEN, when I went to kiss her under the bridge, she turned her head away.

“Before the show aired, my son told me it’s like an Ali G thing, where they try to embarrass the people they interview. I lost a couple nights’ sleep thinking how they were going to make me look bad. I could just see them showing me going to kiss her in this tunnel, and her turning away, and people saying ‘Wow, can you believe that Barry Greenstein!’

“But the truth is, they were pretty fair with me. They fooled me, but they didn’t embarrass me.”

Rumor: You never want to play heads up against Barry Greenstein.
“When I was younger, I played a lot of heads up poker. It seemed like in those days, the bigger games would get to heads-up poker–basically because I would never quit. The other winners would quit, and I would be left with whoever was losing for the night, and I would play, often, till he gave up. I was stronger when I was young–I could easily go for more than 24 hours.

“I see that in Phil Ivey now. I see a lot of how I was when I was younger in Phil Ivey, and that’s probably one of the reasons we’re friends.

“Now I don’t have the stamina I had when I was younger. Our big games are more scheduled. We have families and other commitments, and typically we do quit at 2 or 3 in the morning.”.

Rumor: Barry Greenstein’s new book, Ace on the River, is for advanced players only.
“I think non-players have enjoyed my book more than poker players, because it’s very readable, and it lets them into a world that they were unaware existed. It’s about how to enjoy life as a poker player.

“But the advanced players are the ones who read it and say, ‘This is my life.’ It’s relevant to them from a first-hand basis, whereas for non-players, it’s more from a third-person perspective.

“Most poker books have the basics—defining the game, defining terms–starting from the assumption that some people reading don’t know how to play poker. I assume that the people reading the technical chapters of my book are already experienced players. However, I put the poker-intensive stuff in the back of the book so non-players can read up to that point.

“My book is advanced from a psychological perspective of poker—not necessarily mathematically advanced as some people assume. It’s necessary psychology and philosophy for anyone who’s going to be a professional poker player.”

Ace on the River is available at Barnes & Noble, Borders, Amazon.com or a poker room near you.