When professional poker player Barry Greenstein heard the heartbreaking story of a terminally ill cancer patient named Charlie Tuttle, he was so touched that he vowed to dedicate his victory in the $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha to Charlie. During a seven-hour final table battle, Greenstein played with unparalleled determination. In one of the most flawless performances ever seen in the 36-year history of the World Series of Poker, Greenstein played mistake-free poker and captured his second gold bracelet. Although $128,505 was paid for first place, money and fame were the last things on Greenstein’s mind. Showing uncharacteristic emotion, Greenstein took comfort in the arms of mutual friends who share a special connection to a young man now resting in the Intensive Care Unit at Vanderbilt Hospital. For a few minutes immediately following his personal triumph, Greenstein was unable to speak and silently bowed his head trying to conceal his obvious empathy and compassion. The muse for Greenstein’s rousing victory was Charlie Tuttle, a 26-year-old online poker player who lives in Clarksville, Tennessee. Sadly, Charlie was diagnosed with cancer which has now spread throughout his body. Charlie has tumors pressing against his lungs and has difficulty breathing. Some time ago, Fellow poker pro Marcel Luske found out about Charlie and made a special effort to comfort a man he had never seen nor met in-person before. In fact, during one stirring telephone exchange, Luske called Charlie and sang to him over the phone while resting in the hospital. Those who were with Charlie at the time recall him “laughing for the first time in several weeks,” when he heard Luske’s singing voice.Stories, both happy and sad, have their way of spreading throughout the poker community like a whirlwind. Barry Greenstein heard about Charlie’s condition. He, too, decided that he wanted to do something that might provide some degree of consolation and gratification to a member of the poker fraternity. As in Luske’s case, it didn’t matter that he’d never even met this man. Doing a good deed is not just an axiom. It is a way of life for Barry Greenstein (Note: To read more about Charlie Tuttle, see the poker blog by Paul McGuire at:
[url]http://taopoker.blogspot.com/2005_06_01_taopoker_archive.html#11187797759118165 5[/url]