Karma Favors Jeff Lisandro

Jeff Lisandro won his second WSOP bracelet on Monday. For many of you that watch poker on TV, you may remember Lisandro from the 2006 World Series of Poker. Prahlad Friedman accused Lisandro of stealing another player’s ante before a hand and eventually the argument got very heated and almost came to blows.

ESPN heavily edits many poker tournaments and I had a chance to talk to Jeff in 2007 during a Stud 8 tournament at the WSOP. He told us that what ESPN didn’t report was that Friedman sat at the table and accused Lisandro of stealing that ante for a solid hour before that blowup occurred. By the video, you would have thought that it was a short amount of time that passed, but it was not.

Later that year, Jeff won his first WSOP and Prahlad Friedman was nowhere to be found. I don’t know if thing have changed between the two, but when I spoke with him in 2007, Friedman had not apologized to Lisandro over the matter.

The Friedman-Lisandro saga is also a lesson in karma. Since he accused Lisandro of stealing that ante, Friedman has not so much as even min-cashed in ANY live tournament worldwide. Lisandro has gone on to win two bracelets, and both of those bracelets are in Seven Card Stud. Personally, I think that is poetic justice. Why? Before each hand of stud, you are required to post an ANTE.

How’s that for karma?