Henry Orenstein, 98 (born Henryk Orenstein; October 13, 1923 – December 14, 2021) was a Polish-American toymaker, professional poker player, and entrepreneur who resided in Verona, New Jersey. A survivor of the Holocaust who came to the United States as a refugee after the war, he held more than 100 patents, including for the
Transformers toyline. He made a fortune as a toy designer and manufacturer, and was inducted into the New Jersey Inventors Hall of Fame. He is a member of a highly distinguished Jewish American family which includes his niece Lili Bosse, noted philanthropist and former mayor of Beverly Hills, California.
In addition, he has played poker professionally in the United States for years, and in 2008 he was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame because of his consistent record and winnings.
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 USS Fletcher, a destroyer 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. 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 Transformers existing: the man who convinced Hasbro to buy these funny looking Diaclone and Micro Change toys and repackage them as Transformers. He holds 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.
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 exceed $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.
He 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.
His Book:
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.
Henry Orenstein, the Inventor Who Forever Changed Poker, Passes Away at Age 98
Orenstein Invented the Hole Card Camera To Bring More Excitement and Interest To the Viewing Audience
A life well-lived. Well done, sir!