After letting their long-standing contracts with Annie Duke and Phil Hellmuth expire at the tail-end of 2010, UB Poker needed to do something big in order to fill those sizable shoes, and what they did was sign one of the most elusive poker pros in the world, Prahlad Friedman.
Friedman was the original online poker legend, playing under the screen-names ‘SpiritRock’ and ‘Mahatma’, he participated in the biggest games online at the time and made millions in the process.
Friedman marches to the beat of his own drummer –or perhaps beat-box would be a better analogy since Friedman has an affinity for rapping—and the basketball playing Vegan has no problem speaking his mind on just about any topic.
Two-thirds of the way to Poker’s Triple Crown, Friedman is the owner of a 2003 World Series of poker bracelet and a 2009 WPT Legends of Poker championship, and for his career he has earned over $2.3 million in live poker tournaments. Although he is one of the most successful online poker players in history, and has had a good deal of live tournament success, Friedman is perhaps for four incidents that only peripherally have to do with poker skill:
- UB Super-User Scandal – Friedman is widely considered to have been the biggest victim of the insider cheating scandal that occurred at UB Poker in the mid part of the 2000’s. However, when the scandal was uncovered UB made amends to Friedman, who has said for years that: “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.”
- Ante-Gate – Friedman’s next brush with fame came when he got into a heated debate with another poker pro, Jeffrey Lisandro, over a missing ante in the 2006 World Series of Poker Main Event. The incident which came to be known as “Ante-Gate” saw Lisandro threaten Friedman and the two jaw back and forth for quite some time –Lisandro was right by the way.
- The Clock Stops at 1 – Friedman’s second WSOP dust-up came in 2010 when he had the clock called on him, and seemingly called at “1” only to have the floor muck his ‘losing’ hand! While the table argued that he had called, Friedman remained quiet as the floor explained how the clock stops at 1???
- Signing with UB – What made Friedman’s signing such a big deal was his track-record with the site, having been victimized in the Super-User scandal; not to mention Friedman’s long-time abhorrence of poker sponsorships. His signing has drawn the ire from other pros like Daniel Negreanu, but in the end by convincing Friedman to join the site I think we can finally turn the page on Ultimate Bet Poker and the Super-User scandal, and usher in the UB Poker era.
Related Posts
- Prahlad Friedman Signs with UB Poker - January 10, 2011
- Daniel Negreanu Disappointed with Prahlad Friedman - January 4, 2011
- “Friend or Foe” – Most Heated Disputes Between Poker Players - July 22, 2010
Written by Steve Ruddock on January 18th, 2011