Laak Breaks Endurance Record and Sleeps, Sleeps, Sleeps

The Bellagio poker room saw yet another first as Phil Laak became the first player to play non-stop for over 100 hours setting an as yet unofficial Guinness World record time of 115 hours. Paul Zimbler had set a record in 2009 at the World Series of Poker Europe of 78 hours and 25 minutes but the Unabomber would smash this by 37 hours.

Under the rules of the record attempt Laak was allowed a five minute break for every hour played and these could be stored up to be sued all at once. The entire session had to be video recorded and witnesses had to be present at all times. On first inspection all of these demands were met and it is expected that the attempt will be certified by the Guinness World Record Books later this year.

Laak had agreed before the attempt that half of any profit he made would be donated to campsunshine.org which is a retreat in Maine for children with life threatening illnesses. At the time that he broke Zimbler’s record Laak was nearly $50,000 in the red but luckily a good friend was on hand to bail him out. Antonio Esfandiari lost a huge pot to Laak as a low board couldn’t save his QQ and Laak’s AA. They ran it four times and still Laak won every time to take him from deep in the hole to back in the black.

As the clock digitally clicked to 115 hours Laak called it quits and was delighted to look down at his meticulous notes and discover that he was in profit by $6,766. As soon as he has finished sleeping and who knows when that will be he will be able to hand over half of this to campsunshine.org. Laak is still deciding which events he will enter in this year’s World Series of Poker as he has yet to start one. He has his eyes on the $10k Pot Limit Omaha Event as well as the Main Event.

Laak had prepared for this record attempt by adhering to a strict diet, removing fatty foods and holding back from his favourite foods like ice cream. He believed that by improving his ability to deny his body and mind what it wants would help with the challenge of shaking off the need for sleep. The fact that he managed this feat without the sue of stimulants like coffee shows a huge amount of determination and self-control.

Congratulations to Phil Laak, soon to be a Guinness World Record holder.