Barry Greenstein - Ace on the River

Ace on the River: An Advanced Poker Guide Copyright 2005 Barry Greenstein All rights reserved

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission of the publisher.

All photography (with noted exceptions) by Gregg Kantz, New Renaissance Studio Layout and design by Gregg Kantz, New Renaissance Studio

Dateline: January 29, 2004. Tunica, Mississippi.

Announcer: And its an Ace on the River, giving Barry Green-stein Aces full. This is the first time two players have been knocked out on one hand at the final table in the history of the World Poker Tour.

(Note: Actually, this had happened once before, but the announcer was not aware of it.)

Barry Greenstein

This book is dedicated to the children of gamblers. They were rarely promised anything, because the promise might have been too hard to keep. They may have wanted to play a game with their parent rather than watch a sporting event that had been bet on. They were told everything was done so they could have toys and clothes and a nice place to live, but all they wanted was a little more time. Apologies for when I have failed as a parent go to my children Michael Sebok, Joseph Sebok, Chris Sebok, Christina Tran, Nathaniel Greenstein, and Melissa Greenstein. Barry Greenstein

Foreword

by Doyle Brunson

Barry Greenstein is the consummate professional poker player. His attitude, demeanor at the table and approach to the game sets him apart from most pros. The ability to maintain his composure in any situation is a trait Ive long admired. His sense of fairness is unequaled to the point that he is almost always asked to arbitrate when there are disputes. I have watched Barry not only beat the biggest games, but destroy the best players in the world, consistently being the biggest winner, time after time.

Although Barry is in my top ten all-time best poker players, I respect him most for what he does outside the poker world. He has a giving nature and sets high standards for himself and the poker community. He is kind and gracious to everyone, almost to a fault. He is highly regarded for his honesty and integrity and is one of the most popular pros playing today.

Barry has received a lot of publicity for his philanthropy. He donates his poker tournaments winnings to help underprivileged children. In the Jack Binion WPT in Tunica, Mississippi, he won the first place prize of over $1,200,000 and gave it all to help needy children. As a result, he is called The Robin Hood of Poker and has influenced many poker professionals, including me, to give to various charities.

I come from an era where poker players were regarded as second class citizens, and Ive seen poker evolve into the national pastime it is today. It has been a pleasure for me to watch Barry create goodwill for the greatest game on the planet.

I wrote Super/System in 1977 and Super/System 2 in 2004 by collaborating with experts at each of the poker games commonly played at the time these books were written. I hope players will read my books to try to learn the games. I would then advise them to read Ace on the River to learn how to turn that knowledge into money.

Some interviewers have asked me what top players know that average players dont. I consider many of the differences to be matters of feel or instinct. These differences are difficult to put into words. However, Barry has put a framework on what the top players do and has written about some very high-level concepts. While I was reading his manuscript for the first time, I frequently said to myself, Yeah, I know that, but Ive never seen it described that way. This book contains a lot of stuff I knew but had never seen written and some things I didnt know. Ace on the River is a book that no player will outgrow.

As the manuscript found its way into the hands of other top players, the question was asked, What will the average player do with this knowledge? This is the same question that was asked when Super/System first came out. Time has shown that players were able to absorb the complex concepts. I expect that will be the case here also. No beginner will become an expert as a result of reading any poker book, but after reading Ace on the River, many players will probably move to a higher level.

This book looks like candy to a poker player. As you skim through the examples, you feel, for the first time, that someone has shown poker hands the way they really are. Also, there are over a hundred photographs of places where Ive played and people Ive played with. Its my world on paper, in beautiful color. I enjoy just flipping through the book and looking at the pictures.

I understand very well what Barry went through in writing Ace on the River. As I did, he took time off during the prime of his career to write a book to educate players, some of whom are or will be his opponents. I often asked myself why I was doing it, and Im sure Barry has asked himself the same question. Poker books are normally written by players who hope to make more money selling books than they can playing poker. Barry and I each gave up a substantial amount of money we probably would have made playing poker while we were working on our books instead. We can never recoup that money from book sales. And for what reason? So we could help our opponents become better players? We must be sick.

I have had the dubious honor of getting knocked out of a tournament by a younger player who thanked me for improving his game. And then, before I could make my exit from the table, he asked for my autograph. Well, now I will be able to laugh when it happens to Barry.

Doyle Brunson Las Vegas, Nevada May 2005

Introduction

When I was in college in the early 1970s, I read every poker book I could get my hands on. Some contained amusing anecdotes, but they didnt teach me to play poker. Most books written after 1975 have done a good job of comparing starting hands in different forms of poker. Also, they usually include reasonable advice for play on early betting rounds.

This book does not contain charts on starting hand requirements, since my basic strategy is not significantly different from that which you would find in other books. If I told you those differences, it would be of little value, except for playing against me.

Most current poker books were written by middle-limit players or players who have had some tournament success. Their advice is worthwhile for beginning and intermediate players, but is often invalid for players who make a living playing poker. In contrast, this book contains material for professional poker players and those aspiring to become professionals.

Though I have tried to arrange the topics in a logical order, I believe each chapter can be read independently. I start with the story of my poker career which contains hints of lessons that will be presented in later chapters. After describing the poker world, I discuss philosophies that have helped me and I also touch on some social commentary. Next are advanced topics including poker instruction and my analyses of several key hands I played in prestigious tournaments.