Champion of Poker

Perry Friedman considers himself a semi-professional poker player. For those that don’t know the difference, a professional poker player is one that makes their money solely from poker. This is not the case with Friedman. Upon Graduating from Stanford University, he went to work with companies such as IBM, Oracle, and Digital Envoy. He then worked for Tiltware, which is the software company that developed Full Tilt Poker.

Friedman admitted to not taking up poker seriously until the late 1990’s. His pursuit would start to pay off as early as 2000 when he finished 3rd in the $2,500 7 Card Stud Event at the World Series of Poker. Then he came back in 2002 and won his first and so far only World Series of Poker bracelet in the $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo Event.

Over the years, Friedman has had several WSOP cashes and three final tables including a 4th place finish in the $2,000 S.H.O.E. in 2002, a 3rd place finish in the $2,000 No Limit Holdem Event in 2005, and a 7th place finish in the $3,000 No Limit Holdem event in 2007. He came close to a WPT final table in 2004 when he finished 9th in the Main Event of the Legends of Poker event. Only 6 players make the final table in a WPT event.

Friedman is known as a regular character at the tables, always joking around with his fellow table mates and having a good time. His favorite poker game is 7 Card Stud and can be regularly found playing online at Full Tilt Poker. In total, Friedman only has $650,106 in tournament winnings for his career. While that does not seem like a lot compare to most champions, one must remember that he is only a semi-professional player.

Lately, Friedman has begun to play more on the circuit and has retired from his job at Tiltware. With his extra free time, it will be interesting to see if he continues to be a strong force in tournament poker.