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Barry Greenstein might not be the most flashy character in the poker world's history, but when a tight solid player is still considered to be one of the legends of the game it means that he was definitely doing something right!
The numbers are definitely on Barry's side, he won three World Series of Poker bracelets, two World Poker Tour titles, more than eight million dollars in tournament winnings and presumably a nice sum of cash game winnings on top of that. Greenstein seems like a well-adjusted, sensible person, he has a computer science degree and even though he was a successful poker player back then he choose to work a steady job at a tech start-up than the degen life of a poker player (or at the very least, he choose a good mix of both).
We might say that he prefers a tight-aggressive approach both at and outside of the poker table, and there's certainly nothing wrong with that approach when you're able to execute it with a mastery similar to that of Barry Greenstein.
This is Why Tight is Right
Speaking of tight approach, this spot against Andrew Robl is a great example of the benefits of playing poker using strong ranges. While a Q7J board is a solid texture for an average poker player who just called a 3bet preflop, it's even better for a player who makes a conscious effort to keep his ranges strong in similar spots.
QJ7 absolutely smashes Barry's defending range and he takes full advantage of the fact that Robl underestimates that. From Andrew's perspective, this is a somewhat solid spot for a bluff equity wise (ha has a gutshot and two overs), plus he's blocking some of the draws and top/second pair type hands.
Utilizing His Image
When you think about Barry Greenstein, preflop open from early position with suited connectors isn't exactly the first thing that comes to mind. 4bettingan internet wizard with said connectors is even harder to imagine.
Nevertheless, this is precisely what happen in this Big Game hand between Barry and Vanessa Selbst. It's really hard to look smart when your opponent flops a top set, but Greenstein's line makes a ton of sense in this spot if we account for the image that he managed to create over the years.
Solid Reads, Great Discipline
Barry is not your run of the mill nit. Everyone can take a narrow range and blindly crash it into another range with nothing, but the belief that the conservative hand selection is enough to win money.
Greenstein is much smarter than that. He's too good to suddenly stop paying attention to what's happening around him just because he was dealt pocket kings. Barry manages to read the table dynamics exceptionally well, putting overcallers on their exact holdings and being super close to folding on the flop against a guy that was the most likely to have a Tx in this range.
Self Awareness Pays
This is another great example of a hand where Barry utilized his tight image to win a big pot. Again, when you think Greenstein you don't really think about someone overcalling with offsuit one-gapper.
Out of all the players at that table, he was perhaps the least likely to have 8x in his range for that spot. This is precisely why he included it in his range and why it turned out so great for him. The way Barry handled himself at the table both during and after the hand is another reason for his success.
Lol Donkaments!
You might not be aware of this, but this particular pot that Barry played against Eric Lindgren had extremely high EV for Greenstein. As a part of a famous 2+2 wager, he was offered 10,000$ to say the line "lol donkaments!" at a High Stakes Poker table. And speaking of donkaments, another thing that's worth pointing out is Barry's extreme generosity.
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