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{{Short description|Polish-American toymaker, poker player, and entrepreneur (1923–2021)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2018}}
⚫ {{for|the Canadian artist|Henry Orenstein (painter)}}
{{Infobox poker player {{Infobox poker player
⚫ | name = Henry Orenstein
|image = Replace this image male.svg <!-- only free-content images are allowed for depicting living people - see ] --> | imagesize = 150px |
| image =
|firstname=Henry
| image_size =
|lastname=Orenstein
⚫ | caption =
|nickname= | nickname =
⚫ ||caption=
| birth_name = Henryk Orenstein
|hometown=Verona, New Jersey
| birth_date = {{birth date|1923|10|13}}<ref>{{Cite web |last=zczuba |date=June 16, 2007 |title=Z cyklu "Nieznani, a szkoda": Henry Orenstein. |url=http://www.sport.pl/sport/1,74696,4232514.html |access-date=<!-- ? --> |publisher=Agora SA}}</ref><ref></ref>
⚫ |wsop bracelet count=1
| birth_place = ], ]
⚫ |wsop money finishes=3
| death_date = {{death date and age|2021|12|14|1923|10|13}}
⚫ |wsop main event best finish rank=8th
| death_place = ], United States
⚫ |wsop main event best finish year=1995
⚫ | wsop bracelet count = 1
⚫ | wsop money finishes = 4
⚫ | wsop main event best finish rank = 8th
⚫ | wsop main event best finish year = 1995
}} }}


'''Henry Orenstein''' (born '''Henryk Orenstein'''; October 13, 1923 – December 14, 2021)<ref>{{cite news |last1=Peters |first1=Donnie |title=Henry Orenstein, the Inventor Who Forever Changed Poker, Passes Away at Age 98 |url=https://www.pokergonews.com/articles/henry-orenstein-passes-away-at-age-98/ |access-date=15 December 2021 |publisher=Poker Go News |date=14 December 2021}}</ref> was a Polish-born Jewish-American toymaker, professional ] player, entrepreneur and ] who resided in ], ]. A survivor of five Nazi concentration camps and death camps, he emigrated to the United States as a refugee after the war, and later held more than 100 patents, including for the ] toyline. He made his fortune as a toy designer and manufacturer, and was inducted into the ]. His family includes his niece ], noted philanthropist and mayor of Beverly Hills, California.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Orenstein |first=Henry |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zXvZAAAAMAAJ |title=I Shall Live: Surviving the Holocaust Against All Odds, 1939-1945 |date=1987 |publisher=Beaufort Books |isbn=978-0825305979 |location=United States |pages=64–70}}</ref>
⚫ :''For ] artist, see ].''


Orenstein played poker professionally in the US. In 2008, he was inducted into the ] because of his consistent record and winnings.<ref name="poker">{{Cite web |date=October 31, 2008 |title=Poker Hall of Fame announces 2008 inductees |url=https://www.casinocitytimes.com/news/article/poker-hall-of-fame-announces-2008-inductees-175706 |access-date=2024-03-30 |website=Casino City Times}}</ref>
'''Henry Orenstein''' (born as '''Henryk Orenstein''' ] 1925, ], ])<ref>{{cite web
| url = http://www.sport.pl/sport/1,74696,4232514.html
| publisher = Agora SA
| title = Z cyklu "Nieznani, a szkoda": Henry Orenstein.
| author = zczuba
| date = June 16, 2007
| accessdate = ?
}}</ref> is a ] player and entrepreneur who resides in ].


==Early life==
He won the $5,000 ] tournament at the ] (WSOP), earning $130,000 by beating fourth-place ], third-place ], and runner-up ]. He twice had finished ] in the $10,000 WSOP ] ] main event: 12th in ] and 8th in ].
Henryk Orenstein was born in October 1923, in ], ], to a ] family.<ref name="newsweekchangedhowtheworldplays">{{Cite news |last=Jones |first=Abigail |date=December 21, 2016 |title=Meet Henry Orenstein, the Man Who Changed How the World Plays |work=NewsWeek |url=http://europe.newsweek.com/henry-orenstein-holocaust-survivor-transformers-toy-poker-king-533912?rm=eu |access-date=December 30, 2016}}</ref> His mother was a homemaker and his father was a grain exporter.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Langer |first=Emily |date=December 17, 2021 |title=Transformers and TV poker visionary Henry Orenstein dies at 98 |work=] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2021/12/17/transformers-poker-henry-orenstein-dead/ |access-date=2023-11-25}}</ref> Because he was Jewish, he was deported from his town to Nazi ]s, surviving five of them. After the war, he emigrated to the ].<ref name="newsweekchangedhowtheworldplays" />


Orenstein, along with his three brothers and father, had initially fled to ] after the ] entered Hrubieszów in September 1939. The Orensteins lived in Olyka for two years before returning to their mother and sister in Hrubieszów.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Orenstein |first=Henry |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zXvZAAAAMAAJ |title=I Shall Live: Surviving the Holocaust Against All Odds, 1939-1945 |date=1987 |publisher=Beaufort Books |isbn=978-0825305979 |location=United States |pages=64–70}}</ref> Orenstein explained during interviews that his family had built secret hiding spots between double walls, where they evaded authorities. Finally, having exhausted food and water supplies, they turned themselves in.{{citation needed|date=December 2021}}
⚫ He came in 7th in the $2,500 Seven Card Stud event at the 2005 ], and despite being the oldest competitor (at age 80), won his first round of ]'s ] against one of the best cash-game players in the world, ]. Orenstein would lose in the second round to ].


His parents were loaded onto trucks with other Jews and taken to a cemetery to be shot to death and buried. He and his siblings were transported to the Budzyń Prison Camp in southeastern ] (occupied Poland), which was eventually incorporated as a sub-camp into ]. Orenstein and his brothers were also held at ] in southwestern ] under the infamous commandant ]. Orenstein and his brothers were later transferred to ] in ].{{citation needed|date=December 2021}}
Orenstein is successful outside of his poker playing, both in poker and other pursuits. A ] survivor who spent much of the end of ] in various ], Orenstein became a toymaker who convinced ] to start producing ]. He holds over 100 other patents, and aside from Transformers, the best-known of these inventions is ] which gave Orenstein the exclusive right in the United States to detect and display hole cards in poker games. The ability to show a player's hidden cards to an audience is one of the principal reasons that poker is so popular today.


While at Budzyń, Orenstein had heard an announcement over the loudspeaker one day that any scientists should register with the office. Figuring this would be a chance for survival, Orenstein signed up his brother and him, although neither had scientific training. By personal account, Orenstein has said that the Nazi German commanders figured out that some who had registered were not scientists, but went along with the ruse to allow them to remain in so-called "research positions" rather than be drafted into the Nazi German infantry.<ref name="msn">{{Cite web |date=December 30, 2016 |title=The Man Who Taught America To Play |url=https://www.magzter.com/stories/Business/Newsweek/The-Man-Who-Taught-America-To-Play |access-date=2024-04-07 |website=MAGZTER |language=en}}</ref>
⚫ Orenstein is the creator and an executive producer of the ] on ]. He also produces the popular TV Show '']'', which can be seen in the United States on ]. <ref> {{cite web|url=http://www.pokerpages.com/articles/archives/west06.htm |title=An Interview With Kevin Belinkoff |accessdate=2008-02-06 |last=West |first=Justin |publisher=PokerPages.com }}</ref>


==Business career==
As of 2009, Orensein's live poker tournament winnings exceed $200,000.<ref></ref> He is a 2008 inductee into the ].<ref></ref>
Orenstein and two brothers, Fred and Sam, survived the ]. Their parents were murdered by Nazis in 1942, and their brother, Felix, and sister, Hanka, died during their final days of captivity in separate concentration camps at the end of the war. He emigrated to the ] aboard the ''SS Marine Flasher'', a ] used to transport refugees. He joined their uncle on the ] of ].{{citation needed|date=December 2021}}


Initially finding work with the ] canned food company, one day Orenstein noticed a bride doll in a department store window display, on sale for $29.95. (He has said this would be equivalent to $200 in the early 21st century). He decided that he could make one that was more affordable and he became a toy manufacturer. After gaining success with his first dolls, he earned his first million dollars and founded ]. It produced such well-known toys as the "Suzy Cute" line of miniature dolls and the ] line of model cars.<ref name="msn" />
Orenstein is a noted ], giving money to many causes, particularly those related to ] and ]. In 2002, Orenstein incorrectly claimed that ] had large quantities of biological and chemical weapons and was in the process of acquiring nuclear arms and that the war in ] was largely over.<ref> </ref>


Orenstein is credited by former ] CEO ] as "the catalyst" for the existence of Transformers: the man who convinced Hasbro to buy the ] and ] toys and repackage them as ]. <ref>{{Cite web |title=Henry Orenstein - Transformers Wiki |url=https://tfwiki.net/Henry_Orenstein}}</ref> He held more than 100 other patents. Aside from Transformers, the best-known of these inventions is ]: a device to detect and display hole cards in poker games.{{citation needed|date=December 2021}}
⚫ == Books ==
⚫ Orenstein wrote ''I Shall Live: Surviving Against All Odds 1939-1945'', a memoir of his experiences during the Holocaust in Europe and his survival in five concentration camps. <ref> </ref>


==Notes== ==Poker==
In a bid to make televised poker championships more interesting for the audience, Orenstein devised a way in which the players' face-down cards could be seen by the audience: by cutting a window into the tables at each player and having a piece of glass with a camera under it, the audience would be able to better appreciate the game play, while not disturbing the setting for the players. ] Sports President of Programming Jon Miller said that Orenstein is "single handedly responsible for the success of poker today."<ref name="msn" />
<references/>

⚫ Orenstein was the creator and an executive producer of the ] on ]. He also produced the popular TV Show '']'', which ran from 2006 to 2007 and 2009 to 2011; old episodes can be seen in the United States on ].<ref>{{Cite web |last=West |first=Justin |title=An Interview With Kevin Belinkoff |url=http://www.pokerpages.com/articles/archives/west06.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080531012023/http://www.pokerpages.com/articles/archives/west06.htm |archive-date=May 31, 2008 |access-date=February 6, 2008 |publisher=PokerPages.com}}</ref>

As of 2009, Orenstein's live poker tournament winnings exceeded $200,000.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Henry Orenstein's profile on The Hendon Mob |url=https://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/player.php?a=r&n=27506 |access-date=2023-11-26 |website=The Hendon Mob Poker Database |language=en}}</ref> He was a 2008 inductee into the ].<ref name="poker" /> Orenstein was also inducted into the New Jersey Inventors Hall of Fame.{{citation needed|date=December 2021}}

He won the $5,000 ] tournament at the ] (WSOP), earning $130,000 by defeating fourth-place ], third-place ] and runner-up ].<ref>{{Cite web |title=27th World Series of Poker - WSOP 1996, Seven-Card Stud |url=https://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/event.php?a=r&n=7839 |access-date=2024-03-30 |website=The Hendon Mob |language=en}}</ref> Orenstein twice had finished ] in the $10,000 WSOP ] ] ]: 12th in ] and eighth in ].<ref>{{Cite web |title=24th World Series of Poker - WSOP 1993, No Limit Hold'em World Championship |url=https://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/event.php?a=r&n=7944 |access-date=2024-03-30 |website=The Hendon Mob |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=26th World Series of Poker - WSOP 1995, No Limit Hold'em World Championship |url=https://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/event.php?a=r&n=7902 |access-date=2024-03-30 |website=The Hendon Mob |language=en}}</ref>

⚫ Orenstein came in seventh in the $2,500 Seven Card Stud event at the 2005 ].<ref>{{Cite web |title=2005 United States Poker Championship, 7 Card Stud |url=https://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/event.php?a=r&n=15920 |access-date=2024-03-30 |website=The Hendon Mob |language=en}}</ref> Despite being the oldest competitor (at age 80), he won his first round of ]'s ] against one of the best cash-game players in the world, ]. Orenstein lost in the second round to ].{{citation needed|date=December 2021}}

==Death==
Orenstein died from ] at a hospital in Livingston, New Jersey, on December 14, 2021, during the ]. He was 98 years old.<ref>{{Cite news|date=2021-12-18|title=Henry Orenstein, 98, Dies; Force Behind Transformers and Poker on TV|language=en-US|work=]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/18/business/henry-orenstein-dead.html|access-date=2021-12-19|issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Lissner |first=Caren |title=Essex County Toy Maker Who Inspired Transformers Dies Of COVID |url=https://patch.com/new-jersey/livingston/essex-county-toy-maker-who-inspired-tranformers-dies-covid|access-date=18 January 2021 |website=Patch.com |date=12 January 2022}}</ref>

⚫ ==Books==
⚫ * ''I Shall Live: Surviving Against All Odds 1939-1945'' (1987), a memoir of his experiences during the Nazi Holocaust and his survival in five concentration camps.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kent |first=Bill |date=1995-05-28 |title=Holding His Own |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/05/28/nyregion/holding-his-own.html |access-date=2024-03-30 |website=The New York Times |language=en-US}}</ref>
* ''Abram: The Life of an Israeli Patriot'', a biography of Abram Silberstein, who emigrated to Palestine in 1934. He enlisted in the British Army in 1939, rising from the rank of private to major. He was a great help to ].{{citation needed|date=December 2021}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{1990s WSOP Bracelet Winners}}
{{Poker Hall of Fame}}

{{Authority control}}


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Latest revision as of 20:53, 3 July 2024

Polish-American toymaker, poker player, and entrepreneur (1923–2021)

For the Canadian artist, see Henry Orenstein (painter).
Henry Orenstein
BornHenryk Orenstein
(1923-10-13)October 13, 1923
Hrubieszów, Poland
DiedDecember 14, 2021(2021-12-14) (aged 98)
Livingston, New Jersey, United States
World Series of Poker
Bracelet(s)1
Money finish(es)4
Highest ITM
Main Event finish		8th, 1995

Henry Orenstein (born Henryk Orenstein; October 13, 1923 – December 14, 2021) was a Polish-born Jewish-American toymaker, professional poker player, entrepreneur and Holocaust survivor who resided in Verona, New Jersey. A survivor of five Nazi concentration camps and death camps, he emigrated to the United States as a refugee after the war, and later held more than 100 patents, including for the Transformers toyline. He made his fortune as a toy designer and manufacturer, and was inducted into the New Jersey Inventors Hall of Fame. His family includes his niece Lili Bosse, noted philanthropist and mayor of Beverly Hills, California.

Orenstein played poker professionally in the US. In 2008, he was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame because of his consistent record and winnings.

Early life

Henryk Orenstein was born in October 1923, in Hrubieszów, Poland, to a Jewish family. His mother was a homemaker and his father was a grain exporter. Because he was Jewish, he was deported from his town to Nazi concentration camps, surviving five of them. After the war, he emigrated to the United States.

Orenstein, along with his three brothers and father, had initially fled to Olyka after the German army entered Hrubieszów in September 1939. The Orensteins lived in Olyka for two years before returning to their mother and sister in Hrubieszów. Orenstein explained during interviews that his family had built secret hiding spots between double walls, where they evaded authorities. Finally, having exhausted food and water supplies, they turned themselves in.

His parents were loaded onto trucks with other Jews and taken to a cemetery to be shot to death and buried. He and his siblings were transported to the Budzyń Prison Camp in southeastern General Government (occupied Poland), which was eventually incorporated as a sub-camp into Majdanek concentration camp. Orenstein and his brothers were also held at Płaszów in southwestern General Government under the infamous commandant Amon Göth. Orenstein and his brothers were later transferred to Ravensbrück concentration camp in Germany.

While at Budzyń, Orenstein had heard an announcement over the loudspeaker one day that any scientists should register with the office. Figuring this would be a chance for survival, Orenstein signed up his brother and him, although neither had scientific training. By personal account, Orenstein has said that the Nazi German commanders figured out that some who had registered were not scientists, but went along with the ruse to allow them to remain in so-called "research positions" rather than be drafted into the Nazi German infantry.

Business career

Orenstein and two brothers, Fred and Sam, survived the Holocaust. Their parents were murdered by Nazis in 1942, and their brother, Felix, and sister, Hanka, died during their final days of captivity in separate concentration camps at the end of the war. He emigrated to the United States aboard the SS Marine Flasher, a Type C4-class ship used to transport refugees. He joined their uncle on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.

Initially finding work with the Libby's canned food company, one day Orenstein noticed a bride doll in a department store window display, on sale for $29.95. (He has said this would be equivalent to $200 in the early 21st century). He decided that he could make one that was more affordable and he became a toy manufacturer. After gaining success with his first dolls, he earned his first million dollars and founded Topper Toys. It produced such well-known toys as the "Suzy Cute" line of miniature dolls and the Johnny Lightning line of model cars.

Orenstein is credited by former Hasbro CEO Alan Hassenfeld as "the catalyst" for the existence of Transformers: the man who convinced Hasbro to buy the Diaclone and Micro Change toys and repackage them as Transformers. He held more than 100 other patents. Aside from Transformers, the best-known of these inventions is U.S. Patent 5,451,054: a device to detect and display hole cards in poker games.

Poker

In a bid to make televised poker championships more interesting for the audience, Orenstein devised a way in which the players' face-down cards could be seen by the audience: by cutting a window into the tables at each player and having a piece of glass with a camera under it, the audience would be able to better appreciate the game play, while not disturbing the setting for the players. NBC Sports President of Programming Jon Miller said that Orenstein is "single handedly responsible for the success of poker today."

Orenstein was the creator and an executive producer of the Poker Superstars Invitational Tournament on FSN. He also produced the popular TV Show High Stakes Poker, which ran from 2006 to 2007 and 2009 to 2011; old episodes can be seen in the United States on GSN.

As of 2009, Orenstein's live poker tournament winnings exceeded $200,000. He was a 2008 inductee into the Poker Hall of Fame. Orenstein was also inducted into the New Jersey Inventors Hall of Fame.

He won the $5,000 Seven-card stud tournament at the 1996 World Series of Poker (WSOP), earning $130,000 by defeating fourth-place T. J. Cloutier, third-place Cyndy Violette and runner-up Humberto Brenes. Orenstein twice had finished in the money in the $10,000 WSOP no limit Texas hold 'em Main Event: 12th in 1993 and eighth in 1995.

Orenstein came in seventh in the $2,500 Seven Card Stud event at the 2005 United States Poker Championship. Despite being the oldest competitor (at age 80), he won his first round of NBC's National Heads-Up Poker Championship against one of the best cash-game players in the world, Chip Reese. Orenstein lost in the second round to John Hennigan.

Death

Orenstein died from COVID-19 at a hospital in Livingston, New Jersey, on December 14, 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic in New Jersey. He was 98 years old.

Books

  • I Shall Live: Surviving Against All Odds 1939-1945 (1987), a memoir of his experiences during the Nazi Holocaust and his survival in five concentration camps.
  • Abram: The Life of an Israeli Patriot, a biography of Abram Silberstein, who emigrated to Palestine in 1934. He enlisted in the British Army in 1939, rising from the rank of private to major. He was a great help to Ben Gurion.

References

  1. zczuba (June 16, 2007). "Z cyklu "Nieznani, a szkoda": Henry Orenstein". Agora SA.
  2. I Shall Live: Surviving the Holocaust Against All Odds, "Before World War II"
  3. Peters, Donnie (December 14, 2021). "Henry Orenstein, the Inventor Who Forever Changed Poker, Passes Away at Age 98". Poker Go News. Retrieved December 15, 2021.
  4. Orenstein, Henry (1987). I Shall Live: Surviving the Holocaust Against All Odds, 1939-1945. United States: Beaufort Books. pp. 64–70. ISBN 978-0825305979.
  5. ^ "Poker Hall of Fame announces 2008 inductees". Casino City Times. October 31, 2008. Retrieved March 30, 2024.
  6. ^ Jones, Abigail (December 21, 2016). "Meet Henry Orenstein, the Man Who Changed How the World Plays". NewsWeek. Retrieved December 30, 2016.
  7. Langer, Emily (December 17, 2021). "Transformers and TV poker visionary Henry Orenstein dies at 98". The Washington Post. Retrieved November 25, 2023.
  8. Orenstein, Henry (1987). I Shall Live: Surviving the Holocaust Against All Odds, 1939-1945. United States: Beaufort Books. pp. 64–70. ISBN 978-0825305979.
  9. ^ "The Man Who Taught America To Play". MAGZTER. December 30, 2016. Retrieved April 7, 2024.
  10. "Henry Orenstein - Transformers Wiki".
  11. West, Justin. "An Interview With Kevin Belinkoff". PokerPages.com. Archived from the original on May 31, 2008. Retrieved February 6, 2008.
  12. "Henry Orenstein's profile on The Hendon Mob". The Hendon Mob Poker Database. Retrieved November 26, 2023.
  13. "27th World Series of Poker - WSOP 1996, Seven-Card Stud". The Hendon Mob. Retrieved March 30, 2024.
  14. "24th World Series of Poker - WSOP 1993, No Limit Hold'em World Championship". The Hendon Mob. Retrieved March 30, 2024.
  15. "26th World Series of Poker - WSOP 1995, No Limit Hold'em World Championship". The Hendon Mob. Retrieved March 30, 2024.
  16. "2005 United States Poker Championship, 7 Card Stud". The Hendon Mob. Retrieved March 30, 2024.
  17. "Henry Orenstein, 98, Dies; Force Behind Transformers and Poker on TV". The New York Times. December 18, 2021. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved December 19, 2021.
  18. Lissner, Caren (January 12, 2022). "Essex County Toy Maker Who Inspired Transformers Dies Of COVID". Patch.com. Retrieved January 18, 2021.
  19. Kent, Bill (May 28, 1995). "Holding His Own". The New York Times. Retrieved March 30, 2024.
1990s WSOP bracelet winners
Note
number in brackets represents the number of bracelets earned in that year
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
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Poker Hall of Fame
1979
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