Born on May 20, 1979 in Los Angeles, California, Prahlad Friedman first picked up poker while attending the University of California, Berkeley. He developed his skills playing $15-$30 Limit Hold’em at The Oaks Club before moving on to higher No Limit stakes at the Lucky Chances casino.
Online, Friedman plays as “Spirit Rock” on Full Tilt Poker, “Mahatma” on Ultimate Bet, “Zweig” on the Prima Network, and “Poopers” on Poker Stars. Over the years, he gained recognition as a dominant high stakes regular, often multi-tabling $25/$50 and $50/$100. After a short hiatus in 2006-2007, he returned in 2008 and was one of PokerStars’ biggest winners of the year.
On the live tournament circuit, Friedman first got involved in 2002 by taking second in the $3000 Bellagio Five Diamond Poker Classic for $101K. In 2003, he won his first and only World Series of Poker bracelet in $1500 Pot Limit Omaha for $109K. Also in 2003, he recorded a third place finish in a $1500 Festa Al Lago event for $25K. 2005 brought him another big final table cash, this time a second in a World Series of Poker Tournament Circuit event in San Diego for $363K. A year later, he ran deep in the WSOP Main Event, taking 20th for $494K. Prahlad’s biggest score to date came at the 2009 Legends of Poker where he finished in first place for $1 million. All told, Friedman has $2.3 million in live tournament earnings.
Additionally, Friedman is known for his internet message board raps and has even appeared on T.V., rapping for an ESPN segment of ‘The Nuts’ at the 2006 WSOP. An Ethnic Studies major, he is famously a vegan and a devout follower of Vishnu. His first name, Prahlad, derives from Hindu mythology. He is married to fellow professional poker player Dee Luong.
