Barry Greenstein Biography

Barry Greenstein Bio

Barry Greenstein Photo

Barry Greenstein started his poker career much like many other players. First, he got into the game to chase money and to make himself a living. Later in life, the game became a way for him to give back to those that were less fortunate.

Greenstein learned how to play poker from his father at an early age and he continued to play poker through his youth and into adulthood. He went to college at the University of Illinois at Urbana in Champaign. He studied both Computer Science and Mathematics and he received a BA in Computer Science. Greenstein played poker through college and then proceeded to continue to play professionally after he graduated.

Greenstein was forced into the regular world of work a few years later due to his desire to adopt his stepchildren. He then took a job at Symantec and worked there until 1991 when he retired. While working at Symantec, Greenstein continued to play poker. Part of his decision to leave Symantec revolved around the fact that he was able to make more money at the poker tables than he was making at Symantec and he could still spend time with his family.

Greenstein worked on both his Limit and his No Limit Hold Em game and he became one of the most feared cash game players on the planet. Greenstein did play tournaments, but it was not until 2003 that he hit his first significant score. It was in 2003 when Greenstein won the Million Dollar Seven Card Stud Tournament at the Larry Flynt Poker Challenge Cup. Greenstein won $770,000 for that victory.

This first score was when Greenstein started to become known for his philanthropy work. He donated a huge chunk of his win to Children Incorporated and then began his practice of donating his tournament winnings to the organization. In 2004, Greenstein won the WPT World Poker Open for $1.27 Million, an amount that he donated entirely to Children Incorporated. From this point on, Greenstein was known as the “Robin Hood of Poker.”

Greenstein would continue to donate all of his winnings from tournament poker until 2006 when he decided that he would cut back to just donating his overall profits to charity. Tournament poker had grown so big, and the expenses became so high that Greenstein needed to adjust for the losses before making his donations.

Over his career, Greenstein has earned over $7.2 Million in poker tournaments. In addition he has 2 WPT titles and 3 WSOP gold bracelets. Greenstein is also a regular fixture in the high stakes cash games in Las Vegas, especially at Bobby’s Room. Greenstein has appeared on most televised poker shows, including Poker After Dark, the WSOP on ESPN, High Stakes Poker, and the World Poker Tour.

Barry Greenstein is one of the few professionals that can play both cash games and tournaments at the very highest level. He has accomplished just about everything in the game of poker and is a lock to go into the Hall of Fame within the next couple of years. In addition, his philanthropic gestures have gone on to impact lives all over the world. This makes Greenstein a winner both at and away from the poker table.