Gambling Today

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.

It’s quite a proposition for any player with 60,000 Frequent Player Points to spend them all on a single table HORSE tournament. It’s something else entirely to do it at the table with one of the best poker players in the world. As PokerStars player vectile sat down for the Barry Greenstein Masterclass today, he indicated that even those closest to him didn’t have an extreme level of confidence in his chances.

“The wife says I’m crazy to waste my FPP vs. you,” he told Greenstein as the event began.

But with a lot of skill, a little luck, and quads twice, vectile (complete with his Jesus Loves You player icon) took down the event for $3,750.

If you’re not aware, Barry Greestein’s Masterclass allows PokerStars players to sit down with one of the best for 60,000 FPPs. Real cash and a lot of pride are on the line. Greenstein offers tips and shows his cards as often as he can. When it’s all said and done, PokerStars replays the event with all the hole cards exposed so as many people as possible can see how a master plays. This is what today’s lineup looked like.

Greenstein did not fare as well as he might have hoped today, finishing in seventh place. Vectile, however, no matter that he was a watching a Discovery Channel Greatest Catch marathon and dealing with his wife’s lack of confidence, took down the whole event. It was a good win, but maybe not enough to satisfy all of his wife’s desires.

“She wants to go to Europe,” he said. “I gotta win more than this, unless they start using Euros on here.”

Barry Greenstein’s Masterclass Results

1. vectile (United States) $3,750.00
2. HipPocket (United States) $2,250.00
3. betgo (United States) $1,500.00

If you’d like to watch the replay of the whole event, you can do so next week on PokerStars. The replay runs June 1 at 16:00 ET.

Team PokerStars Pro Barry Greenstein is known worldwide as one of the best all-around players in poker. Pick a game from hold’em to stud, Greenstein can play it and play it better than just about anybody you know.

Greenstein is more than just a player. He can teach as well. While not one to give his opponents undue education, he’s giving PokerStars players a masterclass.

Today at 16:00 ET, Greenstein will sit down with seven other top players for a HORSE SNG. During the event, Greenstein will answer questions and flip up his hole cards as often as he can. When it’s all said and done, PokerStars will replay the event with all the hole cards exposed. That replay will happen next week, June 1, at 16:00 ET.

To watch the event live today, click on the VIP tab in the PokerStars tournament lobby and look for Barry Greenstein’s Poker Masterclass.