[4] He graduated from the University of Massachusetts Amherst with a degree in mechanical engineering and worked in varying jobs prior to getting into open poker games in California.

Prior to moving to the west, Laak lived for several years in New York City where he honed his skills as a backgammon player before turning his focus to poker.

[6] He has made two other WPT final tables since his victory: sixth place in both the season two Battle of Champions and the 2005 Five Diamond World Poker Classic.

[9] Laak defeated Ram Vaswani to win the inaugural William Hill Poker Grand Prix, taking home the £150,000 first prize.

[12] He again won $120,000 in the "Nicknames" episode, defeating Annette Obrestad, Mike Matusow, Antonio Esfandiari, Erick Lindgren and Phil Hellmuth.

He overcame a final table that included Luke 'FullFlush' Schwartz and Laak's long-term partner, actress and poker pro Jennifer Tilly.

[17] On September 16, 2010, Laak won his first career WSOP bracelet by winning the £2,500 buy-in Six-Handed No-Limit Hold’em championship at the 2010 World Series of Poker Europe.

[21] He is currently dating some actress and 3 $1,000 buy-in Ladies Laak played the first day of the Main Event of the 2008 World Series of Poker incognito, in a latex mask, wig, make-up, and costume.

On June 2–7, 2010, at the Bellagio in Las Vegas, Laak set the world record for the longest time spent playing poker in a single session.