Poker Couple Friedman And Luong To Divorce

The poker world is replete with examples of loving relationships between pros, including Marco Traniello and Jennifer Harman, Chip and Karina Jett, Erick Lindgren and Erica Schoenberg, and Phil Laak and Jennifer Tilly. However, one couple who will no longer appear on that list is Prahlad Friedman and Dee Luong, who have now decided to call time on their marriage as a result of what Dee Luong calls “irreconcilable differences.”
Prahlad Friedman, 35, is a top poker talent having earned $2,449,742 playing tournaments since 2002, including capturing both WSOP and WPT titles. The US pro has also earned a small fortune playing high-stakes cash games online but did suffer a horrendous blow to his career after having millions of dollars stuck on Ultimate Bet following the major cheating scandal which came to light in 2008.
Prahlad Friedman originally met Dee Luong, 45, whilst playing poker in Las Vegas where she plied her trade as a high-stakes cash player having been introduced to the game by Huck Seed. During their time together, Friedman said Luong had helped get him through all his tough times, including the UB scandal, but after almost 7 years of marital bliss the couple, which separated in April, have now decided to finally split up.
Since Prahlad Friedman won the WPT Legends of Poker in 2009 for $1,034,000 he has remained largely low profile, although he did draw some criticism from the poker community after re-signing as a ‘Team UB’ member in 2011. As he explained at the time:
“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.”
Friedman and Dee Luong have no children to complicate their divorce, but they do have a 4,200-square-foot Malibu mansion just miles from the beach which they will now likely divide up.