A man plays poker on an Internet gaming site. (Karen Bleier/AFP/Getty Images)
by Gabrielle Russon
In a room full of suit-wearing, tailored-looking politicians on Capitol Hill, Barry Greenstein stood out, wearing a sweater decorated in bright rectangles. He may not have exactly looked the part, but Greenstein is a professional poker player, winning $5 million in the last four years at tournaments in such far-away places as Vienna and Barcelona.
This week, Greenstein met with legislators during the Poker Players Alliance’s “fly-in” to lobby against a law that tightens federal restrictions for online gambling. According to the 2006 Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, banks must monitor and stop their customers’cash transfers to unlawful online gaming sites.
“The Internet gives people an easier way to play,” said Greenstein, who plays in online poker tournaments once or twice a week. “They don’t have to get six or seven buddies to come over to their house. They can play with people, not only from around the country, but around the world. You sit down at the poker table on the Internet, you’re playing with someone who lives in Lebanon or somewhere else…It’s really an international game.”Greenstein’s poker playing days began in Chicago during elementary school when a classmate invited him over to play. “We played for quarters,” he said. “By the time I was in high school, maybe we played for dollars, and by the time I was in college, we played for tens of dollars. It went up.”
After Greenstein graduated from the University of Illinois, he considered becoming a math professor. But, he was able to make more money playing poker. Now each year, he plays in 50 tournaments. Greenstein said he has given $3 million from his winnings to charity.
He looks at the game the same way a salesman sees commission. The more he wins, the more flexible his schedule is.
“Poker itself I don’t necessarily love,” Greenstein said. “It’s my job, it’s a good job. That’s how I support my family.”