The Scoop -- Phil Laak

Welcome to The Scoop, the Card Player TV weekly program that features poker's old-school superstars and new-school Internet hotshots. Every episode of The Scoop discusses in-depth strategies and explores important issues within the poker world.

Phil Laak is as well-known for his poker skill as he is for his antics and "Unabomber" look at the table, and in this summer's World Series of Poker main event, he pulled the most talked about stunt of the year. Laak sits down with Adam and Diego to talk about the details.

Diego Cordovez: A lot of people are doing stunts in the main event. They come in, they are dressed in some clown's costume or something that has become cliché, but you did something on day one that was really original and interesting, just as a sociological experiment. How did it come about?

Phil Laak: It came about actually like five days before it happened. It was the Wizard and the Harry Potter thing, and I was like, "Boy, I would love to trump all that." Then I was watching Jackass [on MTV], and the old man who was trying to get in fights, and I was like, "I'll be an old man!" I got on the phone really fast, calling different make-up people in L.A. They said they didn't have time. It turns out you need like a week. Some lady said the real thing is gel - something high-tech versus foam, and you have to carve and rebuild and it takes a week. There had to be something else. She said there was, but anyone next to me will know that I am like coming from the circus or something. I asked if she could make it look like I was a burn victim, and I put make-up on to cover it. She said we could make it so that people will still know that something is funky, but they won't know it's me. I said, "OK, let's go for it."

It was so brutal, the night before the main event. I found myself out to dinner until like 2 in the morning, and at 5 a.m. I had to get up, because I had to be at The Venetian at 5:45. Thank God she had already gone to Goodwill and bought all these old-man outfits. It took four-and-a-half hours, and then we ran out of time and we didn't have a chance to do my hands. My hands were completely normal, and I was like a wrinkly, old, sad guy.

DC: It's kind of impossible not to show your hands when you are in a pot.

PL: It's impossible! At the dinner break, I actually rushed back to The Venetian.

Adam Schoenfeld: You went back to get your hands done?

PL: No, we only had time for one hand! She asked which one I wanted her to do, and I said my left hand. She was like, "Aren't you right-handed?" And I am, but I want to be like discombobulated, uncoordinated. I don't want to be tempted to chip shuffle or any of that stuff, because it's really hard doing everything with your left hand.
There were highlights. I never had so much fun on breaks. I wish I didn't have to go to the bathroom, because I just wanted to drift around people.

AS: Because you just wanted to mess with people?

DC: You wanted people to react to you.

PL: Yeah, totally. Brett Jungblut and Bryan Micon and one or two [other people] were in this group, and I went up to Micon and I was like, "Oh, you're the radio guy. That's a great show. I listen to the show [old man's voice]." We started talking and going back and forth.

AS: And he didn't know it was you?

PL: No, he had no idea. Then I said, "I'm your biggest fan."

AS: So you didn't reveal this to Bryan or anyone else?

PL: No; well, I called them all at the end of the night. Anybody I knew, I would go up to them, like Cyndy Violette. I said to her, "Cyndy, really fantastic poker." I looked like such a freak.

AS: Were you nervous you were going to get spotted?

PL: Totally. In fact, I did get spotted. I think Brett's brother's wife realized something was really strange. By this time, it was two hours after dinner. It [the disguise] was all peeling. She goes, "Hey! You're a fake! I can see it! Who are you?" I was like, "Ma'am, you are embarrassing me." [laughing]

AS: So you stayed in character?

PL: Totally, the whole time.