I once spent a full day of poker on a table with Phil Laak at the Irish Open, and it stands out as one of my best poker memories.

He talks constantly, but interestingly and intelligently, and there was absolutely no big-shot behaviour. He was generous with praise, and he has an infectious joy for the game that made it great fun for everyone involved.

The best ambassador for the game that I have met.

+1 Eric has been player of the year and has 2 bracelets! One of the good guys.

played about 8 hours with ryan reiss at wsop this year super chill guy very friendly and plays good.
scott clements was super quiet but pretty cordial.
dan shak was kind of annoying seemed to think he was the authority on everything.
bruno foutoussi not sure if i spelled that correctly was also very cool and fun guy to play with

Saw this earlier, and wanted to thank you for the compliment <3

Fortunately there are lots of people who are great to play with that compensate for the drags. A few that really stood out to me for one reason or another:

Naoya Kihara - Just about the best guy you could possibly have at a table. Always keeps track of the pots, and action. Knows all of the rules, but addresses discrepancies tactfully. Always extremely polite, friendly and respectful.

Chad Brown - Golden standard for me of how humans should conduct themselves. Truly lived for the game, never complained, or was anything other than friendly to everybody he sat with. We lost a great one when he passed.

Galfond - Outstanding competitor who is clearly passionate about his ventures while at the same time not taking himself or life too seriously. I wish I could succinctly phrase that better, but it's a beautiful thing. We don't get a chance to play all that much, but I know when we do we're going to laugh a lot regardless of the outcome.

A few other names that come to mind when thinking about guys that I've never seen lose their composure at a table or be anything other than pleasant: Mark Gregorich, Jae Son ( korjae ), Greg Merson, Tommy Hang, Phil Hui, etc etc

@ToupeeJay: Just saw your post, thanks much! Hope you'll introduce yourself next time around!

Will Kassouf and Doug Polk come to mind. Hell UTG is good to other players as well. Always complimenting their play, offering helpful suggestions based on his experience.

Andrew Neeme. Played with him at one of his meet up games at the Westgate Casino. If you were wondering if anybody can actually be as genuine and just as nice a person in reality as they appear to be on YouTube the answer is yes.