Barry GreensteinA poker biography of Barry Greenstein.
 | Quick Information Name - Barry Greenstein Born - In 1954, Scottsdale, Chicago, Usa
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Biography
Born sometime in 1954 in the Chicago neighborhood of Scottsdale, Barry Greenstein is one poker player who can be considered a real professional not only at poker but in real life as well. This is primarily because he happens to be one player who can boast of having a college degree, as he studied at University of Illinois where took up Mathematics as a major.
Barry also had a real good shot at owning a PhD degree in mathematics were it not for a personal problem that cropped up just two months before he was to defend his thesis. The problem came in the form of a law suit involving custody of his stepchildren. This led Barry to settle for a job at Symantec to help finance the costs of the law suit. Though there is no record as to how the case ended, the job at Symantec as Q&A software developer proved to be an enjoyable experience for Barry as he stayed with the company for about seven years, starting in 1984 up to 1991. Consequently, he never got around to finishing his PhD studies and defending his thesis.
Nevertheless, what was education's loss was definitely poker's gain, what with the many accomplishments that Barry has been able to rack up while playing a game that he truly loves. This includes 12th and 13th finishes at Event 20 H.O.R.S.E. division and Event 16 Pot-Limit Omaha respectively of the WSOP last year.
Prior to that, Barry secured a WSOP bracelet when he won the Deuce-to-Seven Draw in 2004. That same year, he appeared in two World Poker Tour games, ending up as the grand prize winner in World Poker Open sponsored by Jack Binion, and securing the fifth spot in the Party Poker Million III.
In 2003, Barry won one million dollars courtesy of Larry Flint during the Stud poker event one-table version of Hustler Casino. But it was in a recent episode of World Poker Tour that Barry's star shined the brightest. Known for his low-key and shy demeanor, Barry was faced off with the “Dream Crusher” Randy Jensen. Other lower-class players would have folded at the loud-mouthed, unnerving approach that has been the trademark of the Dream Crusher, but not Barry. Playing his own brand of poker play, Barry was completely unfazed and ended up busting Jensen.
Through all of his poker achievements, Barry has always had one desire when playing the game – to help the poor. A great part of his play motivation is the fact that if he gets to win, the entire profit will go to charity, specifically to Children Inc. That is why in the gambling world, Barry has come to be known as the “Robin Hood of Poker”.
Still, Barry has not only been generous in terms of money. He is also known to share his poker talent to anyone eager to learn the game. From him, Mimi Tran learned the poker basics, before she became an excellent and feared poker player. His generosity did not end up in vain, for in return for teaching her poker, Mimi taught Barry the intricacies of the Vietnamese language.
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