The 37 year old Phil ‘Unabomber’ Laak has managed to outdo Paul Zimbler’s record of non-stop poker by almost two days: Phil played for an incredible 115 hours straight in the Bellagio Las Vegas.
As I have mentioned earlier, Phil Laak started his record attempt on the 2nd June, aiming for 80 hours of non-stop poker. The previous record was set by the British Paul ‘The Marbella Kid’ Zimbler, who had played heads-up matches for 74 hours at the time and venue of the WSOP Europe last year.
Phil kept himself awake with various tricks and methods: he did yoga and planned his nutrition very carefully. He was allowed to have a five-minute break every hour, but with some limitations, he was able to modify the schedule of his breaks (after six hours of continuous play, for example, he could have a 30-minute break, no sleep, of course).
When Laak reached the 80-hour marker, he decided to keep playing and set his new goal to 90 hours. When he reached 90, he said he would rather play for another ten hours. In the end, he managed to set the unbelievable record of 115 hours of continuous play.
Phil played $10/$20 NLHE full ring cash game, and finished the enduro challenge with a profit of around $6,766. The money will be donated to charity; Phil has chosen the Camp Sunshine Foundation, which organizes summer camps for children with serious illnesses. This same charity will receive the income after souvenirs, sold on the spot, and also donations made by a lot of other poker players that came about at Phil’s poker table during the almost 5-day challenge.