Before Irish-born Phil Laak started entertaining the poker world by doing push-ups in the middle of a game or kneeling beside the dealer to be the first to see the next card, he was a bit of a jack of all trades. Graduating from the University of Massachusetts with a degree in mechanical engineering, he worked as an engineer. But he didn’t enjoy it, so he tried his hand at day trading and even repossessing cars, which he described as ‘dangerous and somewhat unstable’.

One day in San Diego he was eating in a restaurant and, hearing noise in a back room, he discovered a backgammon tournament underway.