Jun
6
by Phil
Started writing this on the laptop next to my seat at table 15 seat 2 at the bellagio this week during the enduro challenge.... at hour 87!!!!
i liken the whole experience to that of the man in his sinking vessel... as he scurries about w his bilge pumps he works furiously to save his craft... he works quickly and with purpose...
the boat will sink and he knows this... he has his life raft at the ready... he is always saved... and yet he tries to save his boat though he knows it is forever lost
so he races against time.... does everything right.... and the boat sinks..
so why did the sailor go thru the motions?? because he was honoring the moment that was upon him...
===============
that was this weekend to me... starting something that i knew had an end... but somewhere in there i saw that the end was not at a number... 80 or 90, but at the point where the boat's
time was over....
as i type these very words we are at hour 87 hrs and 45 mins... 90 for sure from here i will get..... and what the heck....100 seems pure.. but my team is becoming thinner as they must leave.. run this op solo... yes i think i can.. it is all good...
less efficient i will be.. and that is cool...the boat will be sinking--and i will be running the bilge pumps.. in the same way that i will soon meet the bed and this ride will be over.. the boat and his owner are also aware that there is no saving their boat.. it must sink
but the symphony of dance to do what we can do ... that is the ride that is the heart of it all.. and on this weekend i got a LOT of that... wow.. so exiciting..
timing meals with balet precision.. getting counsel on diet and yoga... team work at every corner... putting out fires to save the house seemed to be the order of the day..... arranging my outfits on the spare bed w postit notes for the team to keep me in clean..
soon it was most of the fresh tshirts and undergarments in a bag w me at the table... so little time.. (5 mins a break... go to the room? it was 4 mins for the walk alone!)
a well oiled machine (symphony u could say) with many moving parts.,.. all the while the sleep was catching up with me just as the sea will soon engulf the man's boat...
5 mins on the stop watch... sprinting to the bathroom out thru the poker room making good time (- must do so much upkeep in so little time.....)
hurry hurry play play.. make new numbers while passing time..... make a chart.. log ur wins.. record everything.. why not?.. maybe that is the trick in fact..the trick to beating the sleep thing... treat it like .. well make him a joker.. and then pull him from a hat..take this joker and pull him from a hat... make him ur play mate... in the game..
accept the rules.. and then have fun with it.... his job.. .well, he he tries to get u to stop and rest.. but ur job.. and this is the part u have to be strong and pull a jedi trick sort of on your own brain.... have ur brain think that it is thru activity of the brain and movement of the body that there is rest... (not to relax and easy into a chari.. but constant movement... ) make urself think that is the relax stuff.....u must dodge and weave the joker with great passion... taking the matter of cumfort.... and pushing him to the side.. that is the trick.. anytime cumfort is near... steer away...
.
such a frenzy of things to compress into the short bill of time....
so many other topics i thought about during my stint with the sleep joker.... nothing do occupy ur mind... create something and make it impt...
so much other stuff... hopefully i will get to it later.. but this is me now... fighting the sleep and working the fun... it is wild ... and fun... next hand.. yes.. typing at the table... need constant brain use now...
it is hour 89 min 33.. and as i type.. i see a break.. i now go shower and yoga... and stretch.. and play the game w this joker some more...
thanks so much for all ur support.. currently in the wildest ride in a LONG LONG TIME>...
This is some of how i am feeling now... during the enduro challenge...
and that is why (in part) i am writing this blog .... always dodging the sleep joker...
legs fading... back hurts.. off to a shower... trick me into thinking i am fresh..
later for now...
sched is tight...
degen for life!
c9967175-d8d5-40b9-87f5-416c4aee5861|13|5.0
Tags:
Jun
6
by Taylor Kent
It's now overtime at Bellagio.
On Wednesday, June 2, 2010, Phil Laak sat down at a $10/$20 No-Limit Hold'em table at the Bellagio poker room in Las Vegas. His goal was to set a new world record for the longest individual poker playing endurance marathon in history, and then to pass that number by continuing to play for 80 hours - and now, 83 hours in, his session is officially in overtime and there's no sign of him stopping.
A proud Jennifer Tilly congratulates Phil on setting a new world record.
Phil's girlfriend Jennifer Tilly was on hand for the record-breaking moment. The former WSOP ladies' event champion's happiness and pride in Phil's accomplishment were evident as she held him close and the two smiled warmly for the cameras.
Joy Miller of BluffMagazine.com interviews Phil right after he breaks the record.
All sorts of poker media were on hand to capture the moment and interview the man of the hour. Card Player, PokerNews and Bluff were all there to document poker history, as were numerous photographers and videographers.
Old friends celebrate a unique accomplishment.
While Phil played he was joined by a number of notable poker pros, including Scotty Nguyen, Andrew Robl, and his good friend Antonio Esfandiari. It was Antonio who helped to turn the session profitable just before Phil passed Paul Zimbler's unofficial world record time of 78 hours and 45 minutes, when he lost some $20,000 in a single pot by running into Phil's pocket aces.
A toast.
Phil continued to play while doing his interviews, but once they were complete the entire table paused to raise a glass of champagne and toast this unique moment in poker. Then Phil got right back down to the task at hand: thoroughly crushing the previous record by shooting for a new mark of 90 hours. He continues to post on Twitter, and the live stream is still running as well, so you can follow him and see just how far into overtime he can go.
Congratulations, Phil!
Jun
5
by Taylor Kent
Phil Laak, the new poker endurance world record holder
After keeping up with Phil’s exploits last night via the live stream, I dropped by Bellagio again this morning and didn’t know what to expect as I walked into the room. There’s no doubt that 72 hours is a long time to stay awake, much less to do something that requires the kind of concentration that playing poker does. Would I find Phil slumping and struggling to make it? Or would he be the same Phil Laak I talked to yesterday, pushing the limits of the human body while maintaining a mental orbit just slightly outside the zone the rest of us occupy?
Turns out it was the latter. Phil was very animated, standing up often and chatting with the table during the hands he was playing even more than he usually does. Part of that was because standing up makes it easier for him to fight off fatigue, as he explained to me yesterday, but part of it was surely because of the crowd gathered around the table in anticipation. Like many top poker pros, Phil draws energy from having an audience around him - and at this point energy was in short enough supply that having 20 or 30 people gathered in the small high-limit area of the Bellagio’s poker room was like having a critical recharge for a drained battery.
As the record time grew closer the sense of anticipation in the room was palpable. And when there were ten seconds remaining, the entire room began counting down. Phil’s sense of accomplishment was evident - he raised his arms in the air, fists clenched in a champion’s pose, and he had a huge grin plastered to his face. “There’s a new sicko in town!” he exclaimed as the official Guinness world record mark came and went, and the room broke into applause. The crowd that had gathered began snapping pictures, and the other players at the table pulled out their cell phones and began doing the same.
The record breaks - and the room celebrates
So, the record of 72 hours and 2 minutes has fallen. As for what the number attached to the new record will be, that’s still up in the air - Phil is still going strong with his 80-hour goal firmly in his sights.
Jun
5
by Taylor Kent
As we've mentioned before, Phil's world record attempt is part of an effort to raise money for Camp Sunshine, a charity that does great work for children with life-threatening illnesses. But Phil's not just limiting himself to playing poker to raise money for the Sunshine kids - he's taking on prop bets for the charity, too. Check out this video of him taking a challenge to do 30 push-ups for a $1,000 donation to Camp Sunshine - at nearly 59 hours into the record attempt, no less!
It's hard enough for most people to do 30 push-ups on a full night of sleep. Sleep-deprived Phil Laak added another two at the end for good measure. Does this guy have heart or what?