Poker pro Phil Laak recently attempted to break a Guinness World Record and after just over four days he succeeded. Laak was trying to play poker cash games and best Paul Zimbler’s record of seventy eight hours, twenty five minutes and forty five seconds.
Zimbler’s record was set in 2009 and just a short time ago Laak beat Zimbler’s record. Laak had to follow a simple set of rules to be able to beat Zimbler’s record. The games must be videotaped, there had to be witnesses to the event and Laak was able to take a break for five minutes each hour or take longer breaks with unused break minutes.
Laak played cash game poker with stakes of $10/$20 and the game was no limit hold’em. When the attempt first started Laak bought in for $4,000 but eventually his buy-ins would add up to $100,000. Laak was very particular and kept up with his highs and lows. Once he passed the record, it had been about an hour past, Laak was at $17,000. But then he was put in the black by Antonio Esfandiari.
Laak commented that the trick to the game was staying awake. He had to keep his brain active so he was able to stay awake. This made him decide to make the attempt by playing his regular game of poker.
Just over sixty people were in attendance when Laak broke the record. Everyone was watching the laptop timer to see when the record would be passed. Once it passed the mark, everyone in the Bellagio poker room cheered loudly.
Laak seemed to be in good shape once the record was broken so he just continued to play. Laak commented: “I am never revisiting this moment. So since I know that, I want to pull the shred to the nothingness of it. Maybe I taste where my body can’t go. I am pretty aware of my body because it’s mine and I use it all the time. I feel like I am playing with one of nature’s instruments to the edge.”
Surprisingly Laak used nothing to stimulate his body during the competition. Many people would be downing cola or some sort of caffeine to remain awake during the days of the attempt. But not Laak. He suffered from insomnia as a child so it wasn’t too hard to stay awake.
In the end Laak was smash the previous record of seventy eight hours. Laak would finally stop playing poker after one hundred and fifteen hours. Yes, you heard right one hundred and fifteen hours. Laak first was intending to stay on for eighty hours but once he was still in good shape he decided to continue. This is an amazing feat and one that is sure to not be topped for some time. And if any poker player decides to try it will definitely be worth watching.