During the poker boom of the 2000s, Phil Laak was one of the most recognized players in the game. Nicknamed "Unabomber" for his propensity to wear hoodies and sunglasses at the table, Laak was a regular on high-stakes poker shows like High Stakes Poker and Poker After Dark.
The entertaining personality was back in the winner’s circle this month after taking down a tournament event at the Bicycle Casino in California.
Laak came out on top in a $560 No Limit Hold’em event for $380,245, the largest tournament cash of his career and first major tournament title in 14 years.
Blast from the Past
Laak hasn’t been seen in major tournament events as much in recent years, instead focusing on high-stakes cash games. At the Bike, he topped a field of 3,817 entries to take the title and now has more than $4 million in live tournament winnings.
Always a colorful character, poker fans enjoyed his antics and unique personality on televised poker shows. His love of the game included some other interesting efforts as well.
In 2007, Laak was part of a team of poker players who competed against Polaris, a poker-playing computer program designed at the University of Alberta. The human players came out on top at an event held at the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence in Vancouver, British Columbia.
In 2010, Laak set a world record for the longest time spent playing poker in a single session –staying at the table for a total of 115 hours.
“I believe we all have natural gifts,” Laak told Card Player magazine of the world record effort. “You don’t find stuff, stuff finds you. Someone might be an amazing glass blower but they will never know because they aren’t blowing glass. If I didn’t get into the degenerate lifestyle that is poker, I would have never found out that I have a knack for super enduro-sessions. I accidentally discovered I have this in me.”
