WSOP: Greenstein Needs Good HORSE Showing to Stay in Race

Brett Abel | June 10, 2009

Barry Greenstein needs to have a good showing at Event 21 to keep up his end of a high-price Player of the Year wager.

Despite the millions of dollars, gold bracelets and bragging rights that come with winning tournaments at the World Series of Poker, some are looking for more.

At least four players — Daniel Negreanu, Erick Lindgren, Jeff Lisandro and Barry Greenstein — have made side bets to see which team of two will grab up the most 2009 WSOP Player of the Year points.

Greenstein told BluffMagazine.com that he and Lisandro are facing off with former POYs Negreanu and Lindgren for “more (money) than a lot of the smaller (tournaments’) first places (reward) and less than the bigger ones.”

So far the Lisandro/Greenstein team leads 155-115, 130 of which Lisandro has received for two final tables and a bracelet in Seven-card Stud events.

“Jeff is pulling up his side,” Greenstein said. “Erick and I have had comparable results.”

To keep up his side of the wager, Greenstein will need to match his Australian teammate, and is looking to do so in $3,000 HORSE (Event 21), where he would make his thrid cash of the series. First place of the tournament would give Greenstein 100 points and $311,877.

With a chip stack above the average of 20,545, Greenstein is a position to make a run in Day 2 of the mixed game tournament which switches from Hold’em, Omaha 8-or-better, Razz, Seven-card Stud and Seven-card Stud 8-or-better every eight hands.

“I have a decent shot on Day 1, I have to try to stay above average,” he said.

Day 2 of Event 21 will begin with 198 of the original 452-player field at Wednesday at 2 p.m. in the Brasilia Room of the Rio Hotel. Follow the play live here.

Of those who missed out on Day 2 are Michael Mizrachi, Greg Raymer and Shannon Elizabeth. Greenstein, Doyle Brunson, and Aurangzeb “Ozzy87″ Sheikh remain in the hunt for the money, which is paid to the top 42 finishers.

Greenstein said it is important for him keep breathing room between the top of his chips and the felt because in a limit tournament such as this, only a few bad hands can decimate one’s stack.

“Two hands and you’re gone,” he said.

This is what happened to a few players at the end of Day 1, which ended around 3 a.m. Wednesday morning after beginning at 5 p.m. Tuesday.

Justin Bonomo, who finished fifth in the second event of this year’s WSOP, the Special 40th Annual $40,000 No Limit Hold’em tournament, lost a good amount of his chips at the very end of the night, but was able to get a few back.

Within the last five hands of the nights, playing 600/1,200 Limit Hold’em, Bonomo lost two pots, both showdowns, to wired sixes and eights. He was able to recover some of what he lost when he turned trip aces against his opponent’s pocket kings.

Gavin Smith also fell prey to dangers of the limit structure late in the night.

After having one of the larger stacks in the last level of the night, Level 8, he said he “demolished” his stack.

To recover and come back on Wednesday afternoon, Smith said he needs to pick up “dead chips.”

“That’s why Phil Ivey is the best. He never leaves a dead chip in the middle,” Smith said. “In this tournament, there are a lot of people not willing to pick up dead chips.”

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