Asked and answered repeatedly in this thread.

but how much did he lose?

For all those who think barryg's finances are rock solid - I have a hard time believing this in light of the FACT (admitted by Barry) that he has recently had 3 million in casino markers outstanding.

Then we add to this, the FACT (also admitted) that he has poured a ton of money into Poker Road AND the FACT that his tournament "winnings" in recent years are puny compared to the buy ins - well it seems much more likely that Barry is broke or close to it.

Maybe he should move down in stakes. I have heard there are some good .50/1 games down on Fremont.

Interesting analysis.

I still sometimes find it amazing that two people can look at the same evidence and come to completely different conclusions.

In the same paragraph he "admitted" that he had $3m owing to casinos, he also "adnmitted" having paid it all back. Somebody who has recently paid back $3.0M of a known total of $3.4M in debts and whose professed reason for not paying the remining $400K had nothing to do with ability to pay does not sound like somebody who is short of cash. It sounds more like somebody who is used to using debt as a tool. Add to this that it seems common for solvent high rollers to get credit from casinos, and the paid off debts do not seem to be any indication of financial difficulty.

When somebody pours money into a business (which has always looked like a hobby, or charity vehicle for Joe, to me) when they have another known source of steady income, does it indicate they are short of cash, or does it indicate they have surplus cash?

Wasn't Barry reported to have won over $1/3M in tournaments last year? How many tournaments do you think he played in? What do you think the average and median buyins of those tournaments were?

The Hendon Mob database shows him cashing over $341K in 9 tournaments in 2011 with an average buyin of about $9.4K and a median buyin of $5K, or a profit on these tournaments of over $1/4M. To have lost money at tournament poker, he would have had to have played over 35 tournaments at this level. I have seen no indication he's playing that many tournaments.

Finally, Barry has a sponshorship deal with Pokerstars and was one of the original employees of Symantec, where he worked for nearly a decade and probably got stock. I'd have to say it 's quite likely he makes a lot of money off those two sources.

Looking at the same evidence you provided, I'd say chances are better than even that he's solvent. Adding the information in the previous paragraph, I'd say it is more likely he's quite comfortable financially.

The way these pros try to make out they have the players interests at heart is just pathetic. Also love the way pros only talk about money US players are owed, in other words **** the rest of yous, once American players are paid. Poker is a game where even the role models are low life scum.

He cashed 4 times at the WSOP and you don't think he played that many tournaments? With the 50k, 40/25k WSOP events he probably used 150k minimum during the summer..plus all the other 100k/25k highrollers, seems safe to say he hasn't had a winning year since 2008. Do The Math.

Doesn't really mean he is broke or close to it, but I don't think 350k is even break even playing the type of schedule Barry G does.

Barry played over 25 tournaments in the WSOP/WSOP-E alone.

Did you include the cost of travel and accommodation? Did you include the fact that Barry is a self-admitted big spender?

Guys who play the circuit spend about 300-500k in buy ins a year, not including travel expenses. 350K gross is a terrible year for such a person.

In his book he talks about Symantec. Not an original employee (though he claims he was a key employee). Only took the job for appearances during a custody case. Made 40k a year at Symantec - took a pay cut to work there and never claimed in the book that he was given lucrative stock options. Only stayed on because he wanted to see his word processing program through to the end.

Do you have sources for these assertions of yours?

is 400k such a big deal???its like 4 buyins in a cash game, no???

He didn't make money off Symantec stock because he didn't get any, and has said so many times. He also doesn't make any money off tournament poker, he gives 100% of it away. Most of his income, which is large, comes from being one of the top 5 or 10 live cash game players in the world. And some secondary income comes from owning several web sites, book sales, and Poker Stars.

Barry G broke is so LOL.

I'm inclined to go along with this...

Here's an LA Times story from 2005...

http://www.barrygreenstein.com/latimes5-05.htm

In 1984, he signed on as the fifth employee at a company that later would be named Symantec. His salary was a measly $40,000—a sum that didn't come close to covering his standard of living—but he knew he could always supplement his income through poker.

-Note: Symatec was founded in 1982, so while Barry is correct in asserting he was an early employee, "original" is stretching it too far.

Then this tidbit:

By 1991, though, Symantec had grown from five employees to more than 1,000, its corporate culture had changed and Greenstein had grown weary of the bureaucracy. After seven years and countless round-the-clock work crunches at Symantec, he left the company—but not for another job. He was faced with piles of debt from living beyond his means in Silicon Valley, so he sold his remaining stock options and paid off creditors. All told, during his seven years at Symantec, Greenstein, amazingly, earned less than $1 million. He had packed up and moved to California in order to keep his family together, and now he needed to provide them with the financial security and comfort he felt they deserved. So he returned to poker full-time.

Sold his stock options to pay off his creditors. Also, 1984 to 1991 is seven years, but nice try Do the Math.

Barry's foreword writing business will be good for a year or two don't worry he's got time to sort himself out.

Not sure why he is sponsored by a poker site that only services non-US players when his excuse for not repaying his debt seems to be about US players only getting refunded (potentially at the expenses of ROW players as far as I can see).

Buddy, it isn't 2008 anymore.

This was true in the past. Consensus is that he no longer gives tournament winnings to charity (because there has been so little in the past few years). He has stated that big mixed games have all but dried up - and this USED TO BE his main source of income. Has not been known to play in big NLHE live games. Rarely played on the internet - now doesn't at all. So where is all this big cash game income supposed to be coming from?

Admitted he poured lots of money into a now dormant PokerRoad. The only thing he has going for him now is the Stars deal - that's it.

What are you his dad? You dont know **** about BerrySebok and his finances.

You certainly could be right that his situation is different now.

Why do math:

http://wsopdb.com/?q=Barry+Greenstein
$211,500.00 total buyins

Rumor has it, Barry is broke.

Too many loans and loses.

About 2-3 years ago right here...
Barry claimed to be worth "8 figures" = $10,000,000...
And made a point of mentioning...
His vast California real estate holdings...
Which he likely bought in the 90s or early 00s.

He certainly won't selling that to pay "markers"...
Unless there's a real danger...
That his next biography = "Swimming with the Fishes".

here it is

Must be nice to know how everything is going to play out without any doubt of being wrong. You must be a fun guy to talk to.

What are you talking about, I thought he was a winning cash game player. His tournament results hasn't been good though lately

I have no clue if Barry is broke or solvent, but most likely he, like majority of famous poker pro's, live way above their means instead of beneath them. That is the problem, when they are on a downswing they cant support their lavish lifestyle and things begin to crumble. I believe you will be seeing a lot of this in the near future, with former players who were wealthy now facing bankruptcy.

But hey, if Barry has real estate that is worth $10 million, he could always sell and live comfortably on the interest as a modest man, assuming he gets off paying any of his debts.

Hendon MOb DB has him cashing in five events for about $315K. He paid just over $210K in buyins.
Oh? Which ones?

I presume there must have been some, but what were they?

Like I said, if he played over 35 events*, he probably lost money. I haven't seen a comprehense list of his entries for the year, but what very little of his tournament-playing habits I have heard of tells me it is entirely possible he didn't play many outside of the WSOP.

*Actually, given that his average buyin in WSOP events in which he didn't cash was so much lower than the average buyin for events in which he did cash, I'll have to revise the number up closer to 40.

What sort of tournament schedule does he play?

I had the (quite possibly mistaken) impression that Barry was primarily a cash game player who played tournaments at the WSOP and a few high-profile promotional things. Like I said, if he played over 35 tournaments last year, he's probably losing money at tournament play. Did he play that many?Just because he plays a whole bunch at the WSOP doesn't mean he plays many the rest of the year. Also, are any of his buyins covered by Pokertars?

Is Barry such a person?

26 of his 34 cashes since the start of 2009 have been in Las Vegas or LA. Three more have been at the Stars-sponsored Caribbean Adventure, and three have been in London. The leaves two events that involved travelling outside this limited itinerary.

He plays in Vegas for the WSOP. He plays in London in the fall, back to Vegas in December, Caribbean Adventure in January and LA events in Feb/March. What else has he been playing in the last year or two? It doesn't look like he's travelling much of a circuit on his own dime to me. But I don't know what he has entered yet not won. Perhaps he's travelling all over the place and losing. You got any sources for his complete list of tourney entries? Does that data show how much of the entry fees he put up himself?

No, I didn't take into account his self-admitted big-spender habits. I have no idea how much he as spent on chartering private jets to commute between California and Nevada. I also don't know how much he spends in helicopter or limo rides from his home to the LA events. I don't suppose he'd ever get comp'd a room for all or part of the WSOP, nor would he ever stay with friends in Vegas. Do you have any data on what he actually spends in travel and accommodations?

Of the top 1000 money winners over the last year tracked by Hendon Mob DB, only 189 have won more than $500K. There must be a lot more people losing money than makign a prioft among the top money "winners".

So, assuming he paid all his own entries, and kept all his winnings, he would have had to find a way to spend over $100K in travel, accommodation, etc., from May to July, to have lost money on the WSOP. Certainly doable. Did he do it?

Any info on whether he covered all the buyins with his personal funds? Nothing covered by Pokerstars? Did he get to keep all his winnings?

You seem like quite a knowledgeable guy. How much is Barry winning (or losing) in cash games these days?

That's persuasive. I'm convinced he isn't making money directly off of Symantec stock he obtained while working there.

Now, when he sold off his options and paid off the debt, was there any money left over from the sale?

Yeah, I figured that fifth employee of a firm founded in '82 meant he was there 9 years, which in my books is nearly a decade. Doesn't change the fact that I was right that he got valuable stock options for being an early employee. I was wrong to presume he still had them. Don't know whether he is still benefitting from the sale proceeds.

QUOTE=RedManPlus;31515399]About 2-3 years ago right here...
Barry claimed to be worth "8 figures" = $10,000,000...
And made a point of mentioning...
His vast California real estate holdings...
[/QUOTE]Given what has happend since 2008 to real estate values in the US, his eight figures might well be down to seven. And if his cash game income has dried up and he's losing hundreds of K at tourneys, his seven figures might be down to...

a smaller seven figures.

Yeah, he's sooooo busto!