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Let me start off by saying that I am not a fan of Phil Laak. I think his antics are irritating and his poker game lacking. I am finding it hard to muster the enthusiasm to write anything about him, but since he ranks high in poker player web searches it would be bad business to ignore him. To some observers, Phil emerged as a star during the the second season of the WPT tour. To me, he emerged like an unwanted pimple on the end of somebody's nose. I can't deny that Phil brings "colour" to the poker world, in the same way that shit stains lend colour to white underwear.
It is only fitting that Phil is dating a Hollywood actress (Jennifer Tilly), for he plays to the camera like an attention starved starlet. During the season 2 WPT Invitational in Los Angeles Phil's act reached the boiling point and simmered over. Watching that event On TV made me want to reach through the screen and wring his neck. Phil made sure he sucked up every minute of television exposure (surely he knows his 15 minutes are up). He took his shoes off, he pulled his hood over his head, he spooned the dealer as they turned the cards and he did the dinosaur walk whenever he won a hand. In general, he acted like a kid who overdosed on ritalin. Watching him play with John Juanda was a fascinating study in contrasts. Juanda is a poker artist, a Picasso who paints the felt. Phil Laak, on the other hand, is the kid in Romper Room who writes on the wall with crayons and them sticks them up his ass.
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