Barry Greenstein may well be a legendary, soft-spoken assassin at the poker table, but as a storyteller, he reveals quite a different side to his character. This week he revealed tales of underground games, his sex life, and views on porn – as well as the time he played props while hiding under the table with Phil Ivey, as the poker-room was being robbed by a gunman!
The 64-year old Chicago-born pro who has three WSOP bracelets to his name, as well as career tournament winnings of more than $8million, was being quizzed by Joe Ingram on his popular podcast.
Having heard some rumors from Tom durrrr Dwan at the Trion series, Ingram decided to find out all about the unexpected side of Barry Greenstein, starting with the ‘armed robbery props’ story
Barry Greenstein playing over/under with Ivey
Greenstein was with Phil Ivey and a few other well-known pros at the WPT in Paris’ Aviation Club when their $400/800 cash game was interrupted by screaming.
A quick glance at the gunman marching to the cash cage had the players scrambling for cover – all except Greenstein that is.
“He could have been a crazy guy and shot me,” admits Greenstein now, but at the time he was “maybe trying to be macho – I don’t get under the table for anyone!’ Perhaps not so surprising for the man dubbed the ‘Robin Hood of Poker’.
What happened next is fit for a poker comedy, as Greenstein and Ivey started discussing their props bet!
While everyone else was scared witless, including Greenstein’s wife Alex who’d had the gun pointed at her and the likes of Jeff Lisandro and David Benyamine, the pair joked about who was ‘on for doubles’.
Props to the pros
Playing props involves picking certain cards, and if they hit the flop then you win from the other player. Greenstein’s props cards were the 9,7 and 3 while Ivey played the 8,5 and 4.
Interestingly, Greenstein reveals that Chip Reese’s props flop cards were ‘retired’ when he passed away, while Doyle Brunson – himself a victim of armed robbery numerous times – plays the 10, 3 and 2 – the 10/2 his double WSOP Main Event winning hand, and his 10th bracelet coming courtesy of a lowly 10/3 in 2005.
Ivey, Greenstein and the rest survived that Paris incident unscathed, but it wasn’t the first or last time Barry would be facing a gun at the poker table.
Going underground in the Gulf
An underground poker game in the Gulf of Mexico saw an apparently ‘inside job’, armed raiders circumventing security via arriving by boat and busting in from the sea. Forced to strip and having their cash and jewellery taken, one fellow player almost lost a lot more.
Greenstein relates how a friend would always boast about his 5-carat diamond ring and how he had never taken it off in 13 years. With the threat of a gun pointed at his ring finger, he was suddenly faced with a big decision – desperately scrambling for soap before he ended up with a new ‘nine-fingered’ Mafia-style nickname.
Despite paying $1000 an hour in rake to the game’s bosses, which was supposed to include security and recompense, no-one saw a dime back from the armed robbery.
Life or death situations
Of course, robberies at poker games and casinos don’t always turn out so well, the most recent one seeing the armed thief shot to death by police outside the Bellagio as he attempted his getaway.
An even more recent case saw on poker player rob another, 4-times WPT champ Darren Elias’ home the scene of a nasty incident when Shannon Soroka held the babysitter hostage and demanded to know where Elias kept his money.
Back to Barry Greenstein, and if you want to hear the ins and outs – almost literally – of Greenstein’s sex life and why he has ‘no need for porn’, check out the full interview here.
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