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Henry Orenstein

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Gambler

The Resume

    (October 13, 1923-December 14, 2021)
    Born in Hrubieszow, Poland
    Birth name was Henryk Orenstein
    Toy designer and professional poker player
    Founded Topper Toys
    Toy lines included Dawn dolls, Betty the Beautiful Bride (followed by her bridesmaids), Johnny Lightning racing cars, and Suzy Homemaker appliances
    Convinced Hasbro to market the Transformers line of toys
    Won one bracelet at the World Series of Poker in seven-card stud (1996)
    Invented the hole card camera (1995), which let television audiences see the hidden cards in games like Texas hold ’em
    Founded the Poker Superstars Invitational Tournament (2004)
    Produced the TV show ‘High Stakes Poker’ (2006-11)
    Inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame (2008)

Why he might be annoying:

    Topper Toys went bankrupt after a bank called in their loan (1973).
    An SEC investigation into possible fraud and reporting violations relating to Topper Toy’s public stock offering ended with Orenstein and other executives agreeing to an injunction without either admitting or denying the allegations (1974).
    Many accounts erroneously credit him, rather than the Japanese designers at Tankara Toys, with creating the Transformers.
    Without the Transformers, Shia LaBeouf would be just a vague memory.
    Pro poker players initially opposed the Hole card camera as it would reveal when they had been bluffing.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He was the only straight-A student in his high school freshman class, but he did not receive an academic prize because he was Jewish.
    His parents were murdered by the Nazis and two of his siblings died in concentration camps.
    He and two brothers, Fred and Sam, survived the Holocaust.
    Late in life, he arranged for Yekaterina Lipinskaya, who had sheltered his family for several months, to be added to the list of the Righteous Among the Nations.
    Hasbro CEO Alan Hassenfeld credited him as ‘the catalyst’ for the Transformers success in America.
    Jon Miller, President of Programming for NBC Sports, said, ‘The reason poker is a multibillion-dollar business is because of this one man.’

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 62 Votes: 43.55% Annoying