Phil Laak finally wins a WSOP Bracelet!

Phil Laak used a strong final day to propel him to the first World Series of Poker bracelet of his career at opening event of the 2010 WSOP Europe tournament. Laak overcame a field of 244 runners to take first place and £170,802 of a total prize pool of £610,000. Part of an illustrious field that included Phil Ivey, Tom “durrrr” Dwan, Barry Greenstein, Mike Matusow, Liv Boeree, Praz Banzi and many more, Laak endured a back-and-forth heads-up with Andrew Pantling in the No Limit Hold’em 6-Max event to capture the win.

Sporting sun glasses that covered his surgically repaired right eye and a cast on his right arm that was adorned with the Union Jack, it was hard to distinguish that Laak was in a serious ATV accident only 6 weeks ago.

Anyone watching him play wouldn’t have been able to tell the difference either. Sitting in third place to start a final table that would last less than seven hours, Laak begin had an up and down start to the day. While Pantling marched over 1 million chips, Laak staved off several all-ins and began climbing, earning his way into the heads-up battle.

Although Pantling held an advantage of almost 2-to-1 over Laak going into heads-up, the momentum shifted to the “Unabomber” almost immediately. Within 90 minutes after starting, Laak pulled even with Pantling in their race to the finish. Mixing a masterful combination of bluffs and nice hands that kept Pantling guessing, Laak passed his opponent on the way to victory.

As the final hand paired up Laak’s 5 on the turn for the win, the crowd went wild. Laak announced the victory on his Twitter account, saying, “Maximum cheeze shippage. £170,802   ($267,010). Plus some gold! Holla!!” No longer lacking a WSOP bracelet, Phil Laak scored a big victory to start off the World Series of Poker Europe.