22 Facts About Phil Laak

Philip Courtney Laak was born on September 8,1972 and is an Irish-American professional poker player and a poker commentator, now residing in Los Angeles, California.

Phil Laak was born in Dublin, Ireland, raised on the East Coast of the United States, and now lives in Los Angeles and Las Vegas.

Phil Laak's family moved to Wellesley, Massachusetts, when he was four years old.

Phil Laak graduated from the University of Massachusetts Amherst with a degree in mechanical engineering and worked in varying jobs prior to getting into open poker games in California.

Phil Laak is a former roommate of fellow professional poker player Antonio Esfandiari.

Phil Laak has made two other WPT final tables since his victory: sixth place in both the season two Battle of Champions and the 2005 Five Diamond World Poker Classic.

At the 2005 World Series of Poker, Phil Laak finished second to Johnny Chan in the $2,500 pot limit hold 'em event.

Phil Laak was a winner of NBC's Poker After Dark, earning the weekly prize of $120,000.

Phil Laak again won $120,000 in the "Nicknames" episode, defeating Annette Obrestad, Mike Matusow, Antonio Esfandiari, Erick Lindgren and Phil Hellmuth.

At the 2007 conference of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence in Vancouver, British Columbia, Phil Laak and fellow professional player Ali Eslami competed against, and beat, Polaris, a poker playing computer program developed at the University of Alberta, in two of the four rounds with the remaining rounds being a loss and a draw.

In 2008, Phil Laak made a cameo appearance in the Knight Rider television movie, where he was credited as "Poker Pro".

Phil Laak co-hosted a show called I Bet You on the with his friend Antonio Esfandiari, where they can be found betting on any and all things.

Phil Laak played in the 2009 Aussie Millions cash game Invitational.

Phil Laak overcame a final table that included Luke 'FullFlush' Schwartz and Laak's long-term partner, actress and poker pro Jennifer Tilly.

Phil Laak became known widely in the poker scene as the "Unabomber" because of the hooded sweatshirt and sunglasses he wears at the table, making him resemble the forensic sketch of Theodore Kaczynski, who was known as the Unabomber.

Phil Laak is known for his unusual and inventive manner of speech.

Phil Laak played the first day of the Main Event of the 2008 World Series of Poker incognito, in a latex mask, wig, make-up, and costume.

Phil Laak's disguise was reported thereafter by AP reporter Oskar Garcia.

Guinness allows one 5-minute break every hour, in which Phil Laak could do whatever he wanted, and Phil Laak could "bank" those 5-minute breaks into longer breaks if he played through.

Phil Laak banked several breaks to take a 30-minute nap, but he vows that he did not use caffeine or any stimulants.

Phil Laak did this for Camp Sunshine, a charity that helps sick children enjoy summer camp.

Phil Laak's feat was witnessed live on streaming video by over 130,000 people.