• Name: Philip Laak 
  • Nickname: "The Unabomber"
  • Current Residence: Los Angeles, California 
  • DOB: September 8th 1972 
  • Birth Place: Dublin, Ireland
  • Total Winnings: $1,978,382 (March 2010)
  • WSOP Bracelets: none 
  • Marital Status: married to poker pro Jennifer Tilly

Who is Phil Laak?

This Irish poker player was born in a family that enjoyed playing Tripoli for pennies and Phil himself says that he was able to observe a card logic which eventually helped him in his poker career. He graduated from University of Massachusetts at Amherst in mechanical engineering and worked as an engineer, a repo man, a stock day trader and a real estate investor before he decided to pursue poker full time.

Laak likes to play both cash games and tournaments. It was in 1999 when Laak was first introduced to the high stakes games at an underground club in New York. He realized he was very successful and began entering big tournaments. After having sharpened his poker skills, Laak found success in 2003 when he final tabled 2 WPT events. In 2004 he won his first major live event, the WPT Invitational. And in 2005 Phil final tabled 2 WPT events again and almost took home a WSOP bracelet when he ended runner up to Johnny Chan at a Pot Limit Omaha event.

Phil Laak was the roommate of fellow poker pro Antonio Esfandiari . Currently, Laak is married to movie star and poker player Jennifer Tilly. Phil Laak regularly appears on TV show High Stakes Poker. He recently created his own poker strategy DVD "Texas Hold'em: Controlling the Game".


Where does the nickname ‘The Unabomber' come from?

Phil Laak is widely known in the circuit as ‘The Unabomber' because of his dressing style. He usually wears a hooded sweatshirt and big black sunglasses which make him resemble the forensic sketch of Theodore Kaczynski, also known as the Unabomber.

Public Perception and Reputation

At the tables, Laak is known for his wild behavior, for example dropping down to the floor to do push-ups in the middle of an all-in. Laak's reputation is also trademarked by those hoodies he loves to wear at the tables. Apart from that, Phil Laak is very inventive; he is the official creator of the poker term ‘felted' meaning having lost all of your chips.

Perhaps sometimes Phil Laak can be perceived as arrogant, but that only happens at the tables. Outside of the circuit Laak is a down to earth guy and a loving husband.

Poker Techniques

According to Phil Laak, his main technique is to apply what he calls ‘higher order thinking' when he plays poker. He explains that this technique is some sort of psychic connection with the opposing player that allows him to pick up clues that are neither visual nor verbal.

Media Exposure