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Laak Sets New Standard for “Poker Endurance” at 115 Hours

In one of the most amazing/stupid poker feats in history, Phil Laak played live poker for just for over 115 hours to set a new Guinness Book of World Records mark for “poker endurance.”

Laak broke two marks on Saturday — the unofficial record used to belong to Paul Zimbler at 78 hours, 45 minutes. The official record, held by Larry Olmsted, was 72 hours and 2 minutes.

Laak did it while playing $10-$20 at the Bellagio in Las Vegas during the World Series of Poker. He called the record attempt over early Monday morning.

As part of the official record, he was allowed to take five-minute breaks. The rules also allowed him to save that time for a longer break, and he did so once during a 30-minute nap. Laak said he did not use any drugs or stimulants during the attempt.

The record was partly a promotion his online poker room, unabomberpoker.com (he’s known for wearing a hooded sweatshirt over his head at the tables) but he was also pretty stoked about setting a Guinness record. And he didn’t just break the record by a few minutes. He played for over four days in a record we’re not sure anyone is going to want to tackle anytime soon. He had originally planned to play about 80 hours, enough to extend the current record.

Perhaps most amazingly, Laak actually won money during the session, despite sleep deprivation. He was up $6,766, and he promised to donate the winnings to charity.

The entire affair was broadcast live on the internet, and thousands of people all over the world watched Laak during his record attempt.

Now, after a lengthy sleep, Laak can get back to playing at the WSOP, which is about 1/5th over. He has just under $2 million in live tournament cashes, and he has never won a bracelet. He has seven lifetime WSOP cashes. The closest he came to a bracelet was in 2005, when he took second in a $2,500 pot-limit hold’em event.

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