The Young Jack and the Proven King by Joe Sebok

It has recently come to my attention that many people are under the impression that my pops, Bear (better known to some of you as Barry Greenstein), and I actually have a rocky relationship. Apparently some people have been taking our public barbs at each other as serious business. A number of people have come up to me and asked if he is always as mean to me as it looked on ESPN. Of course, I have to deadpan that the welts on my back have gone down quite a bit since childhood and thus, I am feeling much better about things today.

The truth is, we have an amazing relationship, and it's one of the things I am most proud of in my life. I don't know of any other father/son duo that gets along half as well as we do, or shares half as much. I consider us to be an awesome team, and it sincerely affects me that anyone could think any of our joking around could possibly hint at a deeper seeded issue between us.

In fact, it is because we have such an incredible bond that we can tease each other as much as we do. We couldn't help but crack up when we saw a reporter and photographer run over to us at the Borgata in January when we got into a bit of a shouting match about some disagreements we had over ways to play hands. I suddenly knew what it felt like to be caught out of context by the paparazzi! I could even envision the headlines.

Sebok Scoffs At Father's 7h-8h Advice, Found Murdered Shortly Thereafter

Honestly, Bear is rough. He always has been. It's just his style of teaching, and it works for me. I'm an adult now (well, age-wise, I'm considered an adult at least), and I had forgotten how it was to be taught by him. Until I started playing poker professionally, it had been quite a while since he had attempted to teach me anything. You have to remember that for someone like my dad, or Doyle Brunson, or Phil Ivey, or Chip Reese, to teach someone to play poker is akin to you or me teaching someone to walk or to breathe. The skills these greats possess are like second nature to them at this point, so it's tough to teach others how to play. In fact, maybe the media should be feeling sorry for Bear instead of feeling sorry for me.

Well, I don't want to go that far.

The truth is that my father is one of the more amazing people that I have ever met. What he has been able to do, in taking poker and transforming it into a vehicle for him to be able to help children all over the world, is nothing short of absolutely amazing. I couldn't be more proud of what he has been able to accomplish, and I just hope one day I will have a chance to affect the world one-tenth the amount he has.

Just be sure that if you see one of us bad-mouthing the other somewhere, it's all a joke and is all done in good, sarcastic fun. We probably wouldn't be able to say such things if we didn't actually love and respect each other so much.