Early in his book Ace on the River: An Advanced Poker Guide, Poker Hall of Famer Barry Greenstein includes a long chapter in which he gives an overview of his poker career. Greenstein describes learning how to play poker in his youth, becoming a serious and successful player during his college years, then eventually finding his way into card rooms as he ultimately built a career out of the game.
At one point Greenstein talks about how in the late 1980s Texas hold’em finally became legalized in California (where he settled), and it wasn’t long after that he became a full-time pro.