Posted: 11/4/05 Section: News

Media Credit: Josh Birnbaum Barry Greenstein, a University alumnus, mathematician, and world-renowned poker player, speaks at Foellinger Auditorium on Thursday. night. Greenstein graduated in computer science and completed graduate work in mathematics, only to become a professional poker player. On earning a math degree, he said, "Math carried over to my poker really well: it taught me how to fail ... But I don´t really use math in poker; poker is more of a psychological game."

He walked inconspicuously in the dark with no throngs of fans or camera flashes to penetrate the silence, retracing his footsteps to the familiar building that rung the same as it did when he was an undergraduate in computer science and a graduate student in mathematics.

In the past few decades former University graduate, Barry Greenstein became one of the best poker players in the world and the "Robin Hood of Poker" with his generous donations to charities.

Thursday night, Greenstein left in the middle of his High Stakes Poker tournament in Las Vegas to revisit his alma mater and speak at Foellinger Auditorium. Throughout his talk, Greenstein drew upon his academic experience, emphasizing the importance of learning in college.

"I've had some good steps and some bad steps," he said. He admitted to "playing too much poker," which he said explains why he never finished his Ph. D. in mathematics at the University.

"While you're here, learn as much as you can," Greenstein said. "Most of what I learned was here at the University."

In 1984, Greenstein worked as a programmer at Symantec until he devoted his entire career to poker in 1991. A typical year for Greenstein involves fifty days for side games and fifty for cash and tournament games. Greenstein said he pursued poker because he wanted to be his own boss and determine his own hours.

"A job is still a job," he said before the speech. "It is the job I am able to make the most money at."

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