| Prahlad Friedman | |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Spirit Rock, Pragress |
| Hometown | Los Angeles, California |
| Born | May 20, 1978 |
| World Series of Poker | |
| Bracelet(s) | 1 |
| Money finish(es) | 5 |
| Highest ITM Main Event finish |
20th, 2006 |
| World Poker Tour | |
| Title(s) | 1 |
| Final table(s) | 1 |
| Money finish(es) | 5 |
| Information accurate as of 2010-2-23. | |
Prahlad S. Friedman (born May 20, 1978) is an American professional poker player from Los Angeles, California.[1] He has played under the screen names "Spirit Rock" on Full Tilt Poker, "Mahatma" on Ultimate Bet, "Zweig" on Prima Network, and "Prefontaine" on PokerStars. [2][3]
Friedman won a World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet in 2003 in the $1,500 pot limit hold'em event earning him $109,400. Later, at the WSOP circuit event at Harrah's Rincon in 2005, he won the second place prize of $363,165. At the 2006 WSOP Main Event, Friedman outlasted over 8,700 other players, finishing 20th and securing $494,797. During the tournament, Friedman was noted for an incident with Jeff Lisandro, in which Friedman felt that Lisandro had not put in his ante, worth 5,000 chips, in a hand. Friedman and Lisandro argued constantly through the hand, with the dealer telling them both to stop bringing it up. Friedman would not stop, and implied that Lisandro "robbed" the other man of the 5,000. Lisandro was very upset to hear that, and argued with Friedman, telling him he would "take your head off, buddy". Friedman tried to settle things with Lisandro afterwards during play, but Lisandro refused to talk to him. Many in the poker world criticized Friedman for his actions, including Norman Chad of ESPN and Todd Brunson of Cardplayer Magazine. In the end, it was discovered in the replay that Lisandro did in fact put in the ante. (In posting one of the blinds, a third player at the table forgot to put in his ante; the dealer corrected his mistake.) [4]
As of 2010, Friedman's total live tournament winnings exceed $2,300,000.[5] His 5 cashes as the WSOP account for $713,372 of those winnings.[6] Friedman was an ethnic studies major at UC Berkeley. It was there that he played a lot of poker for the first time. At the Oaks Club, Friedman honed his game at the $15–$30 limit hold'em table, before switching to the no limit game at the Lucky Chances casino. Friedman's usual online limits are $25–$50 and $50–$100 no-limit hold'em and pot-limit Omaha games.
Friedman is also well known on internet poker message boards for his raps. He has rapped for ESPN for a "The Nuts" segment at the WSOP circuit event at Harrah's Rincon in 2005, the Main Event in the 2006 World Series of Poker, and also for the poker website RakeBreak. Friedman is married to professional poker player Dee Luong Friedman, to whom he was engaged since 2002. He is a vegan. The name Prahlad is derived from a figure in Hindu mythology, known for his staunch devotion towards Vishnu.
In August 2009, Friedman won the WPT Legends of Poker event for $1,000,900. He defeated 2009 WSOP Main Event "November Niner" Kevin Schaffel heads up.
When Ultimate Bet was involved in a major cheating scandal prior to 2008, Friedman was one of the biggest victims having lost millions of dollars.[7] After rumors started to surface, in December 2010, that Friedman would be signing with UB, many people in the poker community criticized Friedman.[8][9] When asked how he could sign with a poker site where he was cheated out of millions, Friedman said, "I feel like they took care of me after the scandal. I feel like they didn’t have to pay people back and they did. It was amazing to find out I was going to get a hunk of money back. I have a good relationship with their team and their management and I feel like this is a totally different UB than anything associated with the scandal."[8]
On May 9, 2011, Prahlad and ten other U.S. sponsored professionals were informed by UltimateBet's parent company that their contracts had been terminated. [10]