Nicknamed "The Unabomber", Phil Laak (pronounced "lock") is a professional poker player residing in Los Angeles, California and Las Vegas, Nevada.
Born in 1972, in Dublin, Ireland, Phil Laak was raised on the East Coast of the U.S. and graduated from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst with a degree in mechanical engineering. He worked at a variety of jobs before moving west to California and getting into poker, which he learned to play as a child.
Like many pro poker players, Laak loved playing games. Prior to getting into poker was a world-class backgammon player.
His first major tournament win was in 2004 at the WPT Celebrity Invitational where he made $100,000.
In 2005 he finished 6th in the WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic, earning $160,995.
At the 2005 WSOP, Laak finished 2nd to Johnny Chan in the $2,500 Pot-Limit Hold 'em event, earning $156,400. He also defeated Ram Vaswani to win the inaugural William Hill Poker Grand Prix, winning the £150,000 first prize.
Laak is best known for his appearances on TV poker programs, including the Poker Royale series, appearances on seasons 2 through 5 of High Stakes Poker.
Laak was twice a winner of NBC's Poker After Dark, earning the weekly prize of $120,000 both times.
At the 2007 conference of the "Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence" in Vancouver, Canada, Laak and another professional player competed against "Polaris", a poker playing robot developed at the University of Alberta. Laak won two rounds, lost one, and tied one.
In October 2009, Laak won the PartyPoker.com World Open V, earning $250,000. At the final table was his long-term partner, actress, and poker pro Jennifer Tilly.
Laak has written a column called "Being Phil Laak" for Bluff Magazine since late 2005.
Laak earned his nickname "Unabomber" because of his habit of playing poker while wearing a hooded sweatshirt and sunglasses.
Laak is known also for his unusual and inventive manner of speech. He coined the poker term "felted" to mean having lost all of one's chips (i.e. nothing left in front of the player except the table felt).
Laak has been dating actress Jennifer Tilly, who won a bracelet in 2005 WSOP.
Phil Laak played the first day of the 2008 WSOP Main Event in a latex mask, wig, make-up and costume. A year later, the World Series added a new rule prohibiting wearing masks at the table.
Even though Laak considers himself a "semi-professional" poker player, he has (as of 2008) 7 WSOP cashes, WPT cashes, 3 WPT final tables, and total live tournament winnings exceed $1,750,000.
Log in to post comments
or Register
solarmd on August 13, 2013
dumbdududumb on July 24, 2010
????? on September 13, 2009
thegrinder on September 1, 2008
headlessman1964 on January 7, 2008
DonkeySlayer on January 3, 2008
theguy on August 4, 2007
tom on August 2, 2007
theguy on August 2, 2007
tom on August 1, 2007
tom on August 1, 2007
tom on July 27, 2007
tom on July 26, 2007
tom on July 26, 2007
tom on July 23, 2007
tom on July 23, 2007
tom on July 23, 2007
tom on July 23, 2007
Unregistered on September 19, 2006
DonkeySlayer on September 17, 2006
jesse shultz on August 19, 2006
bad_dog76 on August 11, 2006
Bender on July 29, 2006
????? on May 25, 2006
Derek on December 23, 2005
????? on October 31, 2005
Tripwyre on October 10, 2005
The Judge on October 3, 2005
Unregistered on September 4, 2005
AubeOne on August 24, 2005
CAN U SAY DORK? on August 23, 2005
devilcards on August 23, 2005
JetsFan315 on August 21, 2005
englishcat on August 20, 2005
tm3545 on August 19, 2005
englishcat on August 13, 2005
Carman45 on August 12, 2005
englishcat on August 10, 2005
tm3545 on August 9, 2005
Ken Phelps on August 8, 2005
englishcat on August 7, 2005
Unregistered on August 7, 2005
englishcat on August 6, 2005
englishcat on August 6, 2005
gary sheffield-bot on August 5, 2005
Jason Giambi on August 5, 2005
luis sojo on August 5, 2005
rick cano on August 5, 2005
englishcat on August 4, 2005
pokerbot 888 on August 4, 2005
pokerbot on August 3, 2005
englishcat on August 3, 2005
F*** All of you Who Diss HIm on August 2, 2005
englishcat on August 2, 2005
TILLY IS A B-LISTER on August 2, 2005
englishcat on August 1, 2005
Phil Laak on August 1, 2005
englishcat on August 1, 2005
englishcat on July 29, 2005
Unregistered on July 28, 2005
damn dude on July 27, 2005
unabomber on July 25, 2005
englishcat on July 23, 2005
Observer on July 20, 2005
englishcat on July 20, 2005
englishcat on July 18, 2005
englishcat on July 16, 2005
Unregistered on July 16, 2005
englishcat on July 16, 2005
Unregistered on July 12, 2005
englishcat on July 12, 2005
englishcat on July 11, 2005
englishcat on July 8, 2005
brack on July 7, 2005
loveland on July 7, 2005
englishcat on July 3, 2005
annoying POS on June 19, 2005
Duncan on June 18, 2005
Jlep5 on May 28, 2005
ekwity on May 19, 2005
Miniweat on May 6, 2005
Unregistered on April 9, 2005
Unregistered on April 5, 2005
angels lily on April 3, 2005
manningbrent on April 1, 2005
Joshua on March 18, 2005
Joshua on March 18, 2005
Jeez on March 12, 2005
Gus Hansen Blows on March 1, 2005
Vegas Mike on February 27, 2005
iveyfan05 on February 17, 2005
Kiwi eliteak on February 15, 2005
Bibulus on February 10, 2005
He's not crazy on February 10, 2005
iveyfan05 on February 7, 2005
katie/neonennopsychoalic on February 5, 2005
Chattins on February 5, 2005
T-Bone on February 3, 2005
Unregistered on February 1, 2005
Jimmy "The River" Ferreira on January 22, 2005
Jimmy "The River" Ferreira on January 21, 2005
iveyfan05 on January 21, 2005
no name on January 14, 2005
Ann on January 4, 2005
juicetin on January 2, 2005
Eddie on December 30, 2004
Andrew on December 29, 2004
aqua_0 on December 28, 2004
heat_go_heat on December 24, 2004
Unregistered on December 19, 2004
bruce taesokim on December 13, 2004
Paul Moylan on December 13, 2004
Unregistered on December 11, 2004
Unregistered on December 9, 2004
ABHORRENT1 on November 26, 2004
pokerstud85 on November 24, 2004
richardeum on November 22, 2004
slvsc2 on November 16, 2004
J Bullock on November 8, 2004
Gigohead. on November 2, 2004
aquaintence on November 1, 2004
Shaun/thechosenone1975 on October 25, 2004
The Grim Reaper/brainstormrandd on October 21, 2004
DEREK RILEY on October 13, 2004
Gigohead. on September 29, 2004
Pokrstudent on September 23, 2004
amber on September 13, 2004
Econ on September 8, 2004
researcher on September 7, 2004
Marina on September 4, 2004
Marina on September 4, 2004
pocket7s on September 3, 2004
rock on September 1, 2004
pokerface on August 31, 2004
Unabomber on August 27, 2004
Pro on August 20, 2004
AlisoninVegas on August 20, 2004
Kitty on August 19, 2004
renee--weenfan on August 16, 2004
Mad Monkey on August 8, 2004
larns on July 23, 2004
HackerJack on July 20, 2004
JAck Flamin_Jesus eire101 on July 18, 2004
Unregistered on June 27, 2004
cm. on June 26, 2004
Unregistered on June 25, 2004
Mike C. Central Calif on June 23, 2004
Mike C..are you kidding me? on June 23, 2004
herman007 on June 23, 2004
Big Balls! on June 22, 2004
jon on June 21, 2004
Unregistered on June 20, 2004