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White rapper and outspoken poker pro Prahlad Friedman wants diversity at the final tables in major poker tournaments such as the World Series of Poker. SCROLL DOWN FOR MORE
He caused an uproar Thursday by tweeting:
Tired of seeing only whites and Asians at these final tables. Obviously systemic racism is responsible for this, cause everyone likes poker. To fight back just a little bit, I’m willing to give free advice to any non white non asian peeps out there! Hit me up and I’ll follow you.
Not withstanding the fact that one of the world's top poker players, Phil Ivey, just happens to be Black, Friedman has been taking a lot of heat over the past 24 hours.
Doug Polk tweeted in response:
I understand the sentiment, and it would be better to see a wider variery people succeed in poker However, your tweet somehow implies that other races of people are handicapped in a way that doesnt allow them to succeed in poker, which I totally disagree with
Friedman's tweet comes only two weeks after one player was banned for life from playing in North American World Series of Poker tournaments after using the "N" word towards an African American player.
Friedman attempted to elaborate further on Friday.
I’m not trying to hate on white or Asian poker players. I have many friends that I’ve helped that fit this category. I’m just saying that I don’t think women or minorities are getting the love as much as they should. So I’m trying to fill that gap and help out.
Fellow poker player Jordan Hagan did come to Friedman's defense.
Prahlad does have a point unfortunately guys...and it’s not in the intelligence level of black people or that we don’t work hard...there are a ton of reasons that we don’t have the exact same resources to play higher and higher and it doesn’t have to do with skill level...
Daniel Negreanu was yet to chime in, but we anticipate him doing so shortly.
- Nagesh Rath, Gambling911.com
