Gambling Today

How do you define a top poker pro? What are the skills you need?

Of course, most commentators will differ on the nitty gritty, happily spending hours discussing the multiple facets of the all-round player, placing their emphasis on the various skills in the multiple variations, adjusting their opinions based on deep-stack play versus turbo tourneys, ring games versus freezeouts. However, no matter the specifics, there are certain universal truths. You need to be able to play all variations of the game; show aggression where necessary, patience at other times; you need to know how to play the big stack and the short stack; you need discipline and focus.

In two words: you need to be Barry Greenstein.

Out on table Green 42, the furthest from media row, sits the Team PokerStars Pro who goes by that name. And as ever, he’s giving a masterclass in at least three of those skills mentioned above. Unfortunately for Greenstein, those attributes most on display are the final three: knowing how to play the short stack, discipline and focus. He has never been higher than about 20,000 in chips for the best part of two days. But he’s still in there and still fighting. Several thousand other players are not.

Watching Greenstein at the poker table is never going to remind you of a fireworks display or a Scandinavian-only double-flop eight-card Omaha hi-lo sit & go with a bonus prize for the most outrageous all-in move with the least connected cards. But there’s so much more to learn from watching his play: apparently impassive and uninterested, it couldn’t be further from the truth. He is watching and waiting; he is listening and scheming. If there is a more redundant piece of electrical equipment in the room than the boom mic that the TV crew has hovering over his head, I’m yet to see it. Greenstein says nothing, and is unlikely to even if he doubles up or busts out. It’s just not his style.

Instead, he has four towers of chips: two of the dark blue kind, worth 100 each, a half-tower of the yellow 1,000 chips and a quarter stack of the 500s, used primarily for riffling. He’s waiting for a moment to push them all in; he’ll double them up or he’ll bust. If he does the former, he’ll probably be here for another couple of days. If he does the latter, he’ll sign a copy of his book for his vanquisher, he’ll shake their hand and he’ll head silently into the night.

Either way, he has nothing to prove. Greenstein won another bracelet this year. He made the final table of the $50,000 HORSE event, his second in succession and third cash in three attempts in the event that supposedly determines the best players in the world. You know, scratch that “supposedly”. The fact that Barry Greenstein is the only name on every single cash list from that tournament is enough to prove it beyond doubt.

Look up “Top Poker Pro” in the soon-to-be-published “Poker Dictionary” and you’ll see a picture of Barry Greenstein.

Update: There is, of course, something inevitable about this, but before the ink was dry on that last post, Greenstein bust. He did exactly as predicted when the moment came, a signed copy of “Ace on the River” lies beneath seat three, and now its author is off. And yet all that written above still stands. He still has nothing to prove.

Just a few hours ago, Barry Greenstein was sitting at one of the most elite poker tables in the world, and certainly the most important of the day. Piles of money sat just feet away. As the tournament director read Greenstein’s resume over the PA system, the crowd erupted in cheers. Scotty Nguyen doffed his cap in honor. After all, Greenstein is the only person to cash in the event $50,000 HORSE event every year since its inception. There was no doubt about Greenstein’s importance, both at the micro moment and in the big picture.

Big money, big deal

Just a few hours before that, Greenstein had bought into the the $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha World Championship, a planned multi-table excursion with the $50,000 HORSE event. A flopped set of kings outrun by quad queens ended Greenstein’s time there.

After earning more than $300,000 in the HORSE event and busting early from the $10,000 PLO event, most people would probably take an evening–or at least a few hours–to breathe. Not Greenstein. He walked immediately to the other side of the room to play…a $1,500 event.

It’s hard to relate it to anything. Playing the Masters and then dropping down to play miniature golf? Flying an F-16 followed by a flight simulator? Getting dumped by Angelina Jolie and hooking up with Abe Vagoda? It’s impossible to equate. Is it possible to take a $1,500 seriously after the week–the Series!–Greenstein has had?

In a word, yes.

I know this, because as the $1,500 HORSE event resumed after dinner break, Greenstein walked in the door and realized he was about to miss the first hand.

He ran to his table.

If there was a picture of how seriously Greenstein takes poker, it was watching him hot-step across the carpeted floor and slide into his seat before his last card came off the deck. That’s where he sits now, in a field of more than 800 players and playing for a prize pool of roughly what first place in the $50,000 paid.

Nobody can truly get in Greenstein’s head and know for sure why he does it, but he makes no real secret about the most basic of his intentions. There quite a bit of money involved. He has side bets on who wins bracelets. He knows people are betting on him. He bets on himself, too.

At the beginning of the World Series, a poker forum poster suggested it was likely Greenstein wouldn’t make a final table here. Greenstein responded promptly, offering to take action on himself and telling everyone he would carry money around in $5,000 increments if anyone wanted to bet. Four final table appearances and a Razz bracelet later and the original forum poster is eating some serious crow.

There’s something else at stake here as well. Greenstein’s performance in the 2008 WSOP has put him in contention for the Player of the Year here at the World Series. It will take a strong finish, but at this hour, it’s not impossible.

Over the past couple of years, I’ve probably spent more time around Greenstein than any member of Team PokerStars Pro. As I look back and try to figure out why, it’s clear there are a couple of reasons. First, he’s been expectedly successful and due coverage on this blog. Second, he’s intriguing beyond my ability to explain. I want to understand, but it may be on the outside edge of my ability to do so.

But, that doesn’t mean I won’t keep trying.

When most people win a World Series bracelet, the post-game schedule is pretty clear. It starts with photos and interviews, continues to a bar, and then ends with a great night’s sleep.

Team PokerStars Pro Barry Greenstein is not most people.

It’s not been twelve hours since Greenstein won his third World Series bracelet. His victory in the $1,500 Razz event was followed by the obligatory winner’s photo and then a quick sprint across the room to the $10,000 Limit Hold’em Championship. Over the course of the evening, Greenstein had been spending his Razz breaks tending to his stack in the Limit Championship. His entry into the $10,000 event was a calculated one.

“I have side bets on bracelets, so there is incentive on me to play,” he said. “I didn’t expect the Razz final table to last as long as it did.”

It’s pure Greenstein. He never seems to stop. He was able to keep his stack above zero in the Limit Event and will play Day 2 today. He still had a few hours to reflect on his third bracelet.

“Even though I was more experienced than my opponents, I could have easily gotten knocked out anywhere along the road,” he said of his final table run in the Razz event.

Because of that possibility and the side bracelet bets, Greenstein hedged and entered the $10,000 Limit event. If he got knocked out early, he would have a seat in the Limit event. And if he didn’t, well there was the matter of winning a bracelet. Somehow, as is often the case in Greenstein’s world, he ended up with the best of both worlds.

It’s only been a few days since Greenstein came tantalizing close to winning the No-Limit 2-7 Draw bracelet for a second time.

“The 2-7 No-Limit looked like a very easy win for me,” he said, noting the small field and his vast experience in the game. To his disappointment, he ended up finishing third. “I got a pat ten and Jeff [Lisandro] drew out on it and that ended up being my undoing.”

And so he moved on to the Razz event, where he never looked to be in serious trouble. Razz is just one of the games Greenstein plays well. In a side game, he is hard to match. Razz tournaments, however, are a different beast. “It’s not like side games where you get to sit paitiently,” he said.

Still, the skill was there and took him to the final table, where nuance went out the window. Experience and a friendly deck pushed him all the way to the bracelet. “It’s kind of hard to rate how I played compared to my opponents, but I got the best cards. I went on a sick run,” he said.

Anyone who follows Greenstein’s accomplishments will likely note he seems just a little different his year. It’s for good reason.

In years past, it was not uncommon to see Barry Greenstein awake…always. Never one to pass up value, Greenstein’s MO in the past several World Series was to play tournaments all day and side games all night. If he slept, it was in the few hours he could catch when the side games broke or tournaments had dinner breaks.

“Normally I play all night and start a tournament on no sleep,” he said. “This year, the side games are not as good.”

So, Greenstein is taking the extra time to catch a few z’s and spend time with his kids. While five hours in bed a night is not enough to support most human, for Greenstein it is a luxury that is bearing valuable fruit. He is one of several pros who have big time side bets on who will win World Series bracelets.

“Getting some sleep and playing these things, it means I am going to make some final tables,” he said.

He’s already done it twice this year and looks to do it some more. With just a couple of weeks until the main event, Greenstein has a full schedule in the meantime. His calendar is already marked for the events where he feels he has a best chance to win a bracelet: $5,000 Omaha 8/b , $10,000 PLO Championship, and $50,000 HORSE.

The poker media have already dubbed 2008 as the Year of the Pro. For Greenstein, that is a distinction that doesn’t mean a great deal. His confidence and experience means he whether it is Year of the Pro or Year of the Little League, he will be playing as hard as he can to win another bracelet.

And this year, he’s doing it with a good night’s rest and another bracelet to his name

Team PokerStars Pro Barry Greenstein has once again proven he can make the worst hand with the best of them.

It’s only been a few days since Greenstein took third place in the 2008 No-Limit 2-7 Draw event. Tonight, he didn’t settle for third or even second. He proved he is the best at coming up with the worst.

Tonight, after nine hours of final table play, Greenstein won the $1,500 Razz event at the 2008 World Series. The win marks Greenstein’s third World Series bracelet. He earned $157,619 for the victory.

Greenstein’s victory not only further solidifies his role as one of the best poker players in the world. It also keeps the World Series Razz bracelet in the PokerStars family. Last year at this time, Team PokerStars Pro Katja Thater won her first bracelet in the same event.

Greenstein now holds World Series bracelets in Razz, No Limit Deuce to Seven Draw, and Pot-Limit Omaha.

Congratulations, Barry, on another great win.

Team PokerStars Pro Barry Greenstein is as much a teacher as he is a poker player. From his book “Ace on the River” to his much-chronicled tutelage of son Joe Sebok, Greenstein gives of himself from a spring of poker knowledge in ways that most pros deem either tiresome or antithetical to their goal of winning all the money in the world. To boot, Greenstein is no slouch in his tournament game. I spent most of this year’s World Series chasing Robin Hood all over the tournament floor as he played in event after event–some at the same time. [See: Seventeen Steps with Barry Greenstein]

Recently, Greenstein put on a masterclass at PokerStars with the goal of helping people get inside his head a little better and improve their game in the process. Out of 31 World Series cashes, Greenstein has made the money in eleven different disciplines of poker. Add his final table appearance at this year’s $50,000 World Series HORSE event, and it’s pretty clear why Greenstein and PokerStars chose a HORSE SNG as the masterclass setting.

For 60,000 FPP, seven players sat down to compete for a $7,500 prize pool and a chance to see Greenstein’s hole cards at every opportunity he had to show them. Greenstein, meanwhile, offered to discuss his hands with the players and donate anything he won to the Children, Incorporated charity.

The results, while meaningful, may not be as important as what the other players and you can learn from seeing the entirety of the SNG replayed with all the hole cards exposed. Beginning Saturday and lasting for one week, PokerStars will broadcast the replay for all to see.

So as not to spoil it for everybody, I have posted the results below in white font. You can highlight the blank spot below to see who won if you like.

1. Barry Greenstein $3,750.00 (donated to charity)
2. Supa4real $2,250.00
3. The Grinder $1,500.00
4. bd3109
5. Aryamehr
6. Entropy xx
7. xthesteinx
8. -db-

If you are interested in participating in an upcoming Barry Greenstein Masterclass, PokerStars will be running another one in February. Stay tuned for more information.

Today is a celebration of a beginning, the marking of the end, and a whisper of what’s to come. As fireworks outside celebrate the birth of America’s independence, the poker world’s brightest stars stare at each other across the felt in the last of the preliminary events, a $5,000 rebuy 2-7 draw lowball affair. All of it comes less than 48 hours before this year’s World Series Main Event begins.

The 2-7 event is happening in the farthest corner of the Amazon Room. It’s away from too many prying eyes and the rowdiness that goes along with a holiday night here at the Rio. It’s studied work–if betting your entire stack on the draw of a card can be described as studied. It is a game reserved for the very best and is not the type of thing you should try without a flak jacket and athletic cup.

Among the top pros in the field are Team PokerStars’ Barry Greenstien and Daniel Negreanu. Neagrenu is looking for his second final table of the year. If Greenstein gets there, it will be his third.

A two-day event, the $5,000 2-7 event will play down to the final table tonight and return tomorrow to finish it off. If neither man is fortunate enough to get there, it will mark the end of the search for preliminary event bracelets and begin the wait for the Main Event.

Good luck, gentlemen. Here’s to having another day to play before the big one.

I walked up on Greg Raymer’s table in the $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship and heard him say, “And then the adrenaline kicked in. I started chasing them. Then I thought, ‘what if they have a gun?’”

Ah, yes, the Bellagio story. I’ve heard Greg tell this story all over the world. He rarely if ever brings it up. However, it’s fairly common that people ask him about the night he got jacked at the Bellagio, and he always obliges them with the story.

In my previous life, I followed politicians along the campaign trail. I heard John Edwards give his “Two Americas” speech enough times that I could recite most of it word for word. The text rarely changed, but Edwards put his best into it in front of every new crowd. Greg, who coincidentally now hails from the same state as Edwards, does the same thing. Even though I first heard the story from Greg in January 2005, I still don’t get tired of hearing it.

Don’t think Greg is a man of foolish consistency, though. While I’ve watched him drink Diet Coke for years, in recent months, Greg has started pouring Green Tea mix into bottles of water and drinking that instead. When asked why, Greg explained he doesn’t like Diet Pepsi (all they serve here at the Rio) and he’s been trying to cut back on his caffeine intake. So, Greg won’t be getting a sponsorship from PepsiCo anytime soon, but he doesn’t seem to mind. He’s still running strong in the event today, despite having Ted Forrest on his right and David Chui on his left. Best I can tell, no one has yet tried to rob him.

“Where’s Phil Hellmuth?”

That was Barry Greenstein a while ago. He had a sly look in his eye.

“Right behind you,” I said and pointed to the Poker Brat.

Barry eyed Phil’s stack and then said something under his breath. Nearest I could tell, Barry was trying to get action from Doyle Brunson on a Greenstein vs. Hellmuth final table challenge in this event and the upcoming 2-7 event. My notes don’t reveal the exact details, but whatever Barry was trying to arrange made Doyle laugh. Barry sat back down saying, “Doyle, you won’t give me 4-1?” That’s the relaxed Barry Greenstein I enjoy. While building a nice stack in the tournament, he’s running around trying to get in action.

Back in his seat, Barry had just checked in on Phil Ivey. He asked the table, “Has he played every hand?”

The table responded that Ivey had played all but one. “He was text messaging during one and they killed his hand.”

Barry told me there’s a lesson there. Ivey, he says, plays a lot of–if not all–hands in Omaha tournaments, where Barry plays a bit tighter. Barry said he once played an Omaha event online while teaching Mimi Tran to play. He kept both tables on his screen so she could watch the different styles. Ivey played nearly every hand while Barry played tight.

They had almost exactly the same amount of chips.

***

John Duthie is killing the Omaha event at this hour, although you wouldn’t know it by checking in on the table’s demeanor. Duthie has been getting a massage and the topic of discussion has nothing to do with poker.

Duthie, mid-massage

The line-up is insane. Duthie sits with Huck Seed, Dario Minieri, Mark Vos, Robert Mizrachi, Mickey Appleman, and Jeffrey Lisandro. With that kind of poker background, you might think they’d be discussing the less-than-subtle nuances of PLO. Instead, the non-Americans joined Mickey Appleman in railing against the American health care system and its handling of the non-insured.

Seed, perhaps hoping to defend his country, said “Mickey, once I was walking down the road with blood spurting out of my head. I jumped out of a cab doing 50 miles per hour down the freeway. They forced me to go to the hospital and fixed me up. I didn’t have insurance.”

I’m not sure if there is any corollary here, but Duthie nearly has the chip lead. Seed…does not.

For Barry Greenstein to win today, it was going to take more than just his exceptional poker skill. It was going to take getting a little lucky, and, frankly, not getting unlucky.

Beginning with the second-shortest stack at the table, Barry was still nauseous after losing more than half his stack in the final two rounds of play last night.

“I’m still sick about yesterday,” he said just before he sat down to play.

Still, there was a smell in the air just like before a Midwestern thunderstorm. There was electricity in the air and there was a chance Barry could just pull off a comeback worthy of his reputation.

ESPN prepares Barry to play on TV

The one thing Barry didn’t have to worry about was outlasting Thor Hansen. On the very first hand, Hansen was all-in for his final 40,000 chips. I wondered how sick a feeling it was for Hansen to begin this event with 100,000 and start the final table of the richest event yet this year with less than half of that. PokerStars’ Swedish blogger, Lina, has arrived in Vegas and told me Thor had been playing in today’s $5,000 short-handed no-limit event that started at noon.

Hansen’s time at the table here didn’t last as long as it took the Tournament Director to introduce the players. It’s was a Stud-8 round and Hansen departed in eighth place.

Barry actually caught a good break by picking up the button on the first hand of the Hold’em round. With 30,000/60,000 blinds with 60,000/120,000 betting limits, Barry’s 750,000 stack was vulnerable to the blinds alone.

He folded the first several hands before finally raising under the gun. He got a call from Amnon in the big blind. The flop came 7sJc7d. Amnon checked, Barry bet out, Amnon mucked. It was a quick 150,000 chip pick-up that gave hope to Barry’s sweaters on the rail.

Now in the big blind, Barry folded his 60,000 forced bet after David Singer came in for a raise. However, once in the small blind, Barry refused to give up when Amnon raised from the button. The flop came down Kc6c8c. Barry checked, Amnon bet out, and Barry raised. I’d seen him check-raise a lot yesterday but had yet to see him show one of the hands down. This time, Amnon called. The turn was the ace of spades. Barry surrendered, check-folding to Amnon’s bet.

It’s was mid-afternoon Thursday, the time when the crowds have left on Wednesday but not yet arrived for the weekend. Still, there was a buzz around the packed TV stage. I hoped it would be a buzz that led Barry to picking up some chips pretty fast.

After calling John Hanson’s raise in the big blind , Barry check-folded on a QdQc3d flop. That hand left him with around 300,000 in chips, barely enough to get through one hand. He lost half of that after raising from the button and then calling Kenny Tran’s small blind re-raise. Kenny bet in the dark and Barry folded quickly on a 7dAcTh flop.

Now, I though, there were only two stories left. Either Barry would be out soon or we we’re about to see the greatest comeback in poker history.

When the game switched to Omaha, Barry ended up in the big blind. When Bruno Fitoussi came in for a raise, Barry put in his last 140,000 Barry held AhKs8s4s to Bruno’s AdJcTh6c. By the end of the hand, Bruno had made aces full, but Barry had an eight-low and survived to chop up the small blind.

After folding his small blind on the next hand, Barry put in all his chips from the button. It was a three-way pot with John and Amnon.

The flop came down 9h9sQh. On the turn, 9d, Amnon bet John out of the pot. Amnon held AsQdJs6h to Barry’s AhTc4s5h. Barry needed a heart on the river.

Barry seemed to sense what was coming. He grabbed his copy of “Ace on the River” and pulled out his marker to sign it.

“Put away the book!” Freddy Deeb implored.

In response, Barry pulled out the lucky chip Chris Reslock gave him last night and sat it on the rail.

The river…was the four of clubs.

The TD bid him goodbye with a clever, “Let’s give a big hand for Joey Sebok’s dad!”

Greenstein signed his book for Amnon and headed for the cage. His seventh place finish earned him $259,296. This was his second final table of this year’s World Series.

Congratulations, Barry, on another great run.

A member of ESPN crew just stole my watch. He sidled up, directed my attention in another way through a clever bit of trickery and deceit, and then pocketed my watch (remarkably, a replacement for one that was snatched while I was working a few months ago). This guy left me off the hook quickly.

“Hey,” he said. “I was at Venice Beach and look what I found!”

There was my watch.

That’s the mood right now. This is is the biggest thing that’s happened this year, but the tension hasn’t quite kicked in yet. The $50,000 HORSE World Championship is scheduled to begin in ten minutes. The ESPN crew is white balancing its cameras and joking around. I spotted Barry Greenstein in a TV interview as I walked in to set up beside the final table stage.

As I told you last night, Barry Greenstein has made the final table of the HORSE event (check out that link for a rundown of HORSE coverage and a rundown of the final table).

While Barry’s stack isn’t huge, the chances of him going out first are slim. Thor Hansen sits on a 40,000 stack–less than half of what he started with and not enough to get him through the blinds in the hold’em round. Privately, there are people (read: dealers) hoping Barry wins this thing. Apparently, he’s generous when it comes time to tip out.

As the players it down to play, Barry came in to get his TV microphone.

“Hey,” he said whe he saw me, “I’m still sick from yesterday.”

Yesterday–at least the end of it–was bad. He lost too many million dollar pots and didn’t win enough.

The focus now turns to today.

For some reason, though, I’m hyper and feeling good. Hopefully Barry fees as good in the early going.

Here we go.

There was little doubt in anybody’s mind the final table the World Series $50,000 HORSE World Championship would feature a final table with some of the world’s biggest poker professionals. There was little doubt in my mind that my duties covering Team PokerStars would find me at that final table as well. That’s exactly what has happened.

Thursday afternoon at 2pm, Team PokerStars’ Barry Greenstein will sit down with seven other tough pros to compete for a first prize of more than $2.2 million dollars.

Over the course of the past four days, the PokerStars Blog has chronicled the tournament as it worked its way from more than 145 players down to the final eight. if you missed any of the coverage, feel free to check out these items:

When a HORSE is not a horse
Unprecedentedly fun
Dead Meat
HORSE: Back in the saddle
HORSE gets serious
My Dream Final Table
Keeping the Dream Alive
Featured Horse
A New Track
Work Horses
In the Money
Why the Long Face
Greenstein’s Gift and Raymer’s Exit

If you read any of that, you know that many members of Team PokerStars made it deep in this event. This afternoon, Greg Raymer made it into the money and finished in 14th place for $103,000.

Barry Greenstein came back from dinner break with an appetite for chips. He began 11-handed play with 1.8 million in chips. It looked like he would go into the final table with a formidable chip stack. However, down to nine players, Barry was seated at the four-handed table and things turned ugly. With insane betting limits, Barry turned on the aggression and found some success with it in the early going. Then, players started calling him down. Before long, Barry had lost a few pots and had fallen down below one million in chips. The worst of it happened when Kenny Tran made a flush to Barry’s aces-up in a round of Stud-8. He picked up one small pot after that and managed to stay alive with enough chips to play.

He enters final table play in seventh chip position. While the situation could look better, Barry has actually been down to the felt once and put his final 30,000 chips in on a stone-cold bluff. He got a well-timed fold and before long had worked his stack up to the monster he had earlier today.

When play begins tomorrow, Barry will face off against Kenny Tran, David Singer, Bruno Fitoussi, John Hanson, Freddy Deeb, Thor Hansen, and Amnon Filippi. The PokerStars Blog will be tableside to see if Barry can make a comeback and capture the HORSE World Championship.

Good luck, Barry