Laak Climbing

Under the gun, David Peters opened the pot with a raise to 9,000 straight. Phil Laak called from the button, but small blind Andrew Pantling was thinking sinister thoughts. He squeezed in a reraise to 37,000 total, and Peters just glared at the felt in front of him. After a moment, he cut out a reraise and slid it forward (~75,000), though Jack Effel didn't even have time to announce the amount before Phil Laak reraised all in back over the top! Pantling quickly folded.

Peters, though, was facing a big decision apparently. He and Laak began the hand with similar stacks, and Peters was considering a call for his tournament life. Cue the banter from Laak.

"Put it in there, David! Come on, you have like a million dollars in the closet at home." Our photographer stepped in to snap a couple pictures, and Laak caught her eye. "It's really exciting, isn't it? I know, my heart is like pounding. I mean, it's not like speeded up, it's just going like boooom... boooom... " Laak grabbed Andrew Pantling's hand and pulled it up to his chest so Pantling could nod in affirmation. "I haven't seen three million hands yet so I still get the excitement."

After about three minutes, Peters finally spoke one word: "Show?"

Laak's reply: "Okay, the talking is over now." And with that, he sat more or less quietly while Peters made his decision. The decision was a fold, and Peters will save his remainder for a better spot.

Laak slid his cards toward the muck. "This will be an unshown hand to the poker world," he said. "Just private in my mind."

Tags: Andrew Pantling David Peters Phil Laak