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The
Card Whisperer: Barry Greenstein Wins
Lowball Championship
-After
scorching the poker tournament circuit
in recent years,
philanthropist finally wins first gold
bracelet
What
lies behind us and what lies before us
are small matters
compared to what lies within us.
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson
The
words �poker� and �compassion� rarely
surface within the same milieu. After
all, poker is a predatory undertaking.
The objective of the game is barbarian,
namely to detach as many players from
their bankrolls, as possible. Indeed,
winning poker normally requires unscrupulous
qualities, including the predilection
to pulverize the final vestiges of fellow
competitors.
But
there are striking exceptions. One such
exception is a mild-mannered 5� 6� giant
of a man named Barry Greenstein. Within
the confines of poker�s perilous green
felt jungle, Greenstein has the heart
of a lion. The proverbial lion �roared�
in the $5,000 Buy-In Deuce-to-Seven Lowball
event at the 2004 World Series of Poker.
He won a whopping $294,100. That normally
wouldn�t be earth-shattering news in the
poker world, now quite accustomed to six-figure
prize pools and millionaires made by the
turn of a single card. What is �news�
is Greenstein�s greater purpose in life
-- his inherent humanity and selfless
acts of charity.
You
see, Barry Greenstein donates all of his
poker tournament winnings to charity.
Lest anyone think the sums are insignificant,
try to grasp these exorbitant figures
Greenstein has given to charitable institutions
over the past year:
2003
California State Poker Championship --
$100,815
2003 Party Poker Million -- $194,763 2004
Five-Star World Poker Classic -- $215,969
2004 World Poker Open -- $1,278,370
This
list is by no means complete. The principal
benefactors of this supremely-talented
poker talent�s philanthropy are two organizations
close to Greenstein�s heart -- Children
Incorporated and Guyana Watch
(Greenstein gives to other charities,
as well). Children Incorporated
provides food, clothing, school supplies,
medical needs and other necessities for
thousands of children in twenty-one countries,
including the United States. The funds
go to affiliated projects such as schools,
orphanages, and welfare centers all over
the world. Guyana Watch provides
medial outreach to the small impoverished
South American nation, through a volunteer
team of doctors and dentists, and gives
medical supplies and treatment to the
needy.
Others
can (and probably will) speculate on the
spiritual ramifications of doing good
deeds. Namely, does �giving� perpetuate
even greater success? Whether by divine
direction or pure raw talent, the fact
is that Barry Greenstein may very well
be the best poker player in the world
at the moment. That�s a bold statement
to make, but if the benchmark of preeminence
is tournament wins and live action profits,
Greenstein certainly belongs at the top
of the list as poker�s top player.
On
Friday night at 3:30 am, while most of
America slept, Barry Greenstein was playing
at a final table of a poker tournament
in Las Vegas, competing for prize money
he had no intention of keeping. It took
him a total of 15 hours to wipe out the
most talented field in poker history �
comprised of 46 famous names sure to be
recognized by every poker aficionado.
The �Who�s Who� of poker included: Appleman,
Baldwin, Baxter, Bechtel, Berman, Bloom,
Bonyadi, Brunson, Chan, Corkins, Cunningham,
Grey, Haveson, Ferguson, Forrest, Franklin,
Giang, Harman, Hellmuth, Juanda, Ibrahim,
Ivey, Lederer, Lindgren, Longson, Mortensen,
(Scotty) Nguyen, (Men) Nguyen, Phillips,
Reese, Seidel, Stupak, Tomko, Wattel,
Wilkenson, Zelewski, Zolotow, and others
including Greenstein. There were enough
gold bracelets in the room to fill 50
pawn shops. Conspicuously absent were
any players who could even remotely be
considered �dead money.�
This
is the competition Greenstein vanquished,
while ESPN cameras rolled and captured
the moment for posterity. Certainly, the
decision to film and introduce an esoteric
card game like Deuce-to-Seven Lowball
to a national television audience was
an admirable one, if nothing else. It�s
unlikely that ESPN�s lowball telecast
will challenge �Friends� and �Frasier�
at the top of the Nielson Ratings. And
that�s a shame, because the final table
was comprised of an ensemble cast better
than any TV sitcom. Howard Lederer, Chau
Giang, Lyle Berman, Chris Ferguson, Steve
Zolotow, and Wil Wilkenson ended up as
the extras alongside Greenstein�s masterful
performance.
When heads up play began, 2000 World Poker
Champion Chris �Jesus� Ferguson was the
lone obstacle to Greenstein�s bid to capture
his first World Series of Poker victory.
Greenstein had about a 3 to 1 chip lead
over Ferguson, decked in his trademark
black cowboy hat. Ferguson had a chance
to make things interesting on the final
hand when he had a better draw than Greenstein,
but was nailed with a king. Greenstein
had the better low (remember, the worst
hand wins) and scooped the final hand
of the night.
The
runner up, Ferguson is fiercely competitive
when it comes to playing in poker tournaments.
But even the five-time gold bracelet winner
put things into proper perspective following
his �defeat� � worth $169,200. �Barry
may very well be the top player in the
world right now. All the top players respect
Barry,� Ferguson said afterward. �I never
like to lose, but if you are going to
lose to anyone, who�s better to lose to
than Barry, since all the money is going
to charity?�
For
anyone who thinks poker is not capable
of having its own heroes, one name above
all should dispel that notion � Barry
Greenstein. Think of his benevolent
deeds in this way: If every citizen of
the developed world were to donate $10
a week to charity, the total contribution
during a year's time would exceed $1 trillion
dollars. Imagine a �1� -- followed by
�12� zeroes. One-trillion dollars. That's
one thousand times one billion! Or, one
million times one million! It's a lot
of money. And it could help a lot of people.
The fact is -- Barry Greentein is carrying
the weight of a lot of us. He is the type
of human being we should all aspire to
be � but to which we will almost certainly
fall short, whether we try to equal his
poker talent or his compassion.
-- Official Report
by Nolan Dalla, Media Director -- 2004
World Series of Poker
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