Phil Laak

Phil Laak has indeed become a household name in poker world where he has not only proved to be a rare pro but also got his nick name “Unabomber” because of his typical hooded shirt while on the table. Born in 1972 in Dublin Northern Ireland, Phil started swimming in the turbulent waters of poker in 1999 but as of 2003, he had already entered eight tournaments and this includes three years in row in the World Series of Poker. This appearance made him one of the most popular poker players to be featured on the circuit, an achievement that has also made him feature in many television gigs. He is known to draw the hood over the head and pulling the strings closed during those large hands.

Phil moved to the East coast region of the United States early in his childhood where he studied mechanical engineering at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He worked here as an engineer, a real estate investor and a repo man before making the big move which saw him move to California where he used his mathematical talent to become one of the big names in poker. He lived in the Bay Rea for several years with a well known poker player, Antonio Esfandari, where they used to travel together for tournaments. During the 2004 WPT invitation, his room mate Esfandari scooped the sixth position while became first.

Poker tournaments have not only brought fortunes to Unabomber but his girlfriend, Jeniffer Tilly – a Hollywood actress – also came in handy. Tilly jokingly claims that she learned poker at the tournament tables from Phil through osmosis. The game has made his girlfriend be given a nickname of ‘The Unabombshell”. Tilly also started causing ripples in the game by winning a WSOP bracelet in the Ladies No-Limit championship back in 2005.

His nondescript hooded shirt has become a darling of many players who believe that the sweat shirt and the sun glasses can protect one from being read by opponents. With this era of televised poker, Phil has become a common face sine many TV cameras always love to give him time because of the weirdest things he utters. He is also known for performing different exercises during the action. His fun-filled disposition has made him one of the most likable characters in poker. He says that the reason why he went to poker was because of the test of patience and several other strategies employed during the various stages of the tournament and that he does not examine whether he is playing well or not based on the outcome but buy the drive.

The 2005 WSOP tournament with Johnny Chan turned around poker history quite dramatically when Phil won a WSOP bracelet, preventing Chan from maintaining his 20-year long reputation on the poker table. The two contrasting personalities made the game even more captivating because Chan maintains poise and calmness but Phil can’t help but keep on constantly talking. Phil now has two WSOP cashes and prides of winning the World Poker Tour in his short but illustrious career. On top of the accolades is a first in 2004 Los Angeles invitational. Besides that, he also made it to the WPT final table during the 2003 Legends of Poker in the Bicycle Casino. To prove his unending influence on the game, he played against a poker robot back in 2005 and won the game proving that he is far much batter in poker than a robot.

Phil adopts a tight play but is also well known as a vibrant and boisterous player with a flamboyant behavior. The most famed game that Phil ever played was the 2005 heads up match with Johnny Chan during the World Series of Poker. Phil was incredibly able to embrace push-ups, song, dance and flattery in efforts to defeat the Orient Express, which did not happen. He however shone to the limelight when he won the NBC Poker After Dark version that featured bug names such as Erick Seidel, Phil Hellmuth, Doyle Brunson, Jeniffer Harman and Antonio Esfandari. Other achievements are three appearances in the in the Word Poker tour with one victory. It’s important to note from the onset that Phil has carved out a reputation of being a cash game specialist. He posits that his style only involves high order thinking capacity, which he believes is what makes him stick out on the table. He employs various high-order thinking capacities to get in to the opponent’s mind and also uses succinct dreaming to get the player’s tells.

His mantra is to make decisions in life based on three primary functions: freedom, fun and fulfillment, which he believes pokers blend them all. His most frequent poker tables are in Las Vegas and California. He currently lives in California.

Posted by Joel on May 9 2010. Filed under Player Profiles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry