Phil Laak burst onto the poker scene as "The Unabomber" in the early 2000s, wearing a hooded sweatshirt and dancing around a World Poker Tour final table.
Admittedly, Laak craves the attention. He loves the made-for-TV poker shows such as NBC's "Poker After Dark" and "High Stakes Poker" on GSN.
If Laak wasn't so likable, you'd be right to question his credentials for being at those TV tables with some of poker's other Phils, Phil Hellmuth or Phil Ivey. But Laak is now on equal footing with them in one regard: he's a World Series of Poker champion.
Laak defeated Andrew Pantling on Thursday in heads-up play to win the first WSOP Europe tournament of 2010, a
.
It's the first of five bracelet events in London, and Laak earned about $270,000 for outlasting 243 other players. The field included five members of this year's November Nine, among other notables.
“The main thing to me is now is that I don’t have to listen to all the ragging I get from everyone when I play," Laak told reporters afterward. "Eighty percent of the time, it’s all I hear -- that I don’t have a gold bracelet yet. Well, that’s all gone now.
“Antonio (Esfandiari) has been riding me for years that he has a bracelet, and I don’t. Maybe now, he’ll finally shut up."
Laak and Esfandiari are the best of friends, and it was
that almost ended Laak's poker playing career -- and life.
On Aug. 5, Laak suffered a broken rib, a dislocated elbow, a shattered wrist and damage to his orbital bone and tissue when he wiped out during a trip in Oregon. He needed multiple surgeries and still is sporting a cast on his wrist.
But in true Laak form, he was posting pictures to
from his hospital bed and tweeted “Atv accident, massive arm injury and lacerations to eye in oregon. Life is good ... Could have been worse I’m lucky to be in one piece."
Laak has amassed more than $2.5 million in tournament winnings, but he's more known for doing push-ups while playing Johnny Chan heads up for a WSOP bracelet in 2005.
Or playing the entire Day 1 of the 2008 WSOP main event dressed as an old man. Or setting
(115 hours) earlier this summer.
Here's hoping Jennifer Tilly's boyfriend never stops entertaining.
E-mail Josh Slagter: jslagter@grpress.com and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/JoshSlagter