Phil Laak
Name – Phil Laak
Birthday – September 8, 1972
Location – San Francisco, CA
Online Screen Names – None Known
Endorses – N/A
Website – N/A
Phil Laak was born in Dublin, Ireland but raised in Wellesley, Massachusetts. His early life was spent largely in the Wellesley area and he attended the University of Massachusetts at Amherst to obtain a mechanical engineering degree. He initially went into a job as an engineer but worked in various roles for the next few years, including as a repo man, trader and real estate investor for a time before moving to California and getting involved in the world of poker.
Laak is known as the Unabomber amongst poker fans and professionals because Laak always wears a hooded sweatshirt and generally tends to pull it tight around his face. Although he could not be friendlier, the nickname is appropriate considering his success at the poker table!
Laak has been playing poker since his time at college and is now more a cash game player than a tournament game player, but that has not stopped him from doing well in the tournaments to date. Laak is well known for his appearances in the TV show Poker After Dark and has also competed in several Poker Royale Series. He has been extremely successful in both series and is one of the most recognisable poker players around today as a result.
In terms of tournament play, Laak has achieved a measure of success. He competed in and won the World Poker Tournament Celebrity Invitational Tournament in 2004, which served to give him confidence in the WPT. He then went on to finish 6th in the Battle of the Champions in season two and then finish in the same place again in the 2005 Five Diamond World Poker Classic.
2005 was a good year for Laak overall because he then finished 2nd in the World Series of Poker $2,500 Limit Hold ‘Em Event, before going on to win the William Hill Poker Grand Prix, with $150,000 prize money. Laak will no doubt be on our screens for some time to come as a result.
In 2010, Phil Laak beat the Guinness world record for longest session of poker played. See the video clip below.