Video Recap of Phil Laak Breaking Poker Endurance Record

by Jake

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For those of you who weren’t able to stay up for 115 hours straight and catch all of Phil Laak’s progress as he broke the Guinness World Record for longest poker session, we’ve got a highlight video recap for you.

Check it out and if you haven’t done so already, you can sign up for a Unabomber Poker account and get a signed Phil Laak hoodie for earning 2,500 frequent player points before July 5.

The WSOP and Tournament of Champions

by Chad Holloway

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The World Series of Poker is crazy, but in a good way.  A typical day reporting for PokerNews consists of about 12-14 hours, constantly running around gathering hands and chip counts, and posting them to the web.  It can be difficult at times trying to keep track of all the big name pros, but it is also a lot of fun.  Where else do I get the opportunity to stand next to and talk to the biggest names in poker?  

Since coming to the WSOP a few weeks ago, I have had the opportunity to see some pretty incredible things.  Among them were Tom “Durrrr” Dwan’s second place finish, Michael Mizrachi’s victory in the $50,000 Players Championship, Men “The Master” Nguyen’s win to capture his 7th bracelet (almost an 8th as well, finishing in second place just last night), and controversy surrounding men entering the Ladies Event.  It never ceases to amaze me just what I’ll see on poker’s biggest stage. 

I’m really looking forward to the upcoming Tournament of Champions.  For those of you who don’t know, the WSOP is bringing back the T.O.C. that occurred from 2004-2006.  You may have seen the episodes on ESPN when Annie Duke defeated Phil Hellmuth heads-up in 2004, when Mike Matusow won in 2005, or when Mike Sexton claimed victory in 2006.  Anyway, this year Harrah’s announced they would be bring back the T.O.C. in a different format; that is, the fans would vote in an online poll to choose who would get the opportunity play.  The only catch was that past bracelet winners would be eligible (Sorry Mr. Laak and Mr. Dwan).

The T.O.C. would feature 27 players.  The past three winners would get in, as would the reining Main Event Champs from the WSOP and WSOP-Europe (Joe Cada & Barry Schulman).  Harrah’s then reserved two spots for sponsor exemptions, meaning the top 20 vote getters in the poll would get in.  Phil Ivey was the number one vote getter, beating out Daniel Negreanu by only 28 votes! Check out who will be playing in the T.O.C.:

 

Rank Name Votes

 

1 Phil Ivey 16,267

2 Daniel Negreanu 16,239

3 Doyle Brunson 13,796

4 Phil Hellmuth 12.673

5 Chris Ferguson 11,585

6 Allen Cunningham 10,486

7 Johnny Chan 10,434

8 Scotty Nguyen 9,834

9 Barry Greenstein 9,806

10 John Juanda 8,835

11 Erik Seidel 8,802

12 Jennifer Harman 8,206

13 Huck Seed 8,180

14 Dan Harrington 7,342

15 T.J. Cloutier 6,281

16 Sammy Farha 6,085

17 Howard Lederer 5,596

18 Greg Raymer 5,404

19 Joe Hachem 5,272

20 Antonio Esfandiari 5,129

Automatic Annie Duke 2004 TOC Winner

Automatic Mike Matuswo 2005 TOC Winner

Automatic Mike Sexton 2006 TOC Winner

Automatic Joe Cada 2009 Main Event Champion

Automatic Barry Shulman 2009 WSOP Europe Main Event Champion

Exemption Bertrand Grospellier WSOP Academy Playoff Winner

Exemption Andrew Barton WSOP.com UK Qualifier

 

There was mixed reaction here at the Rio concerning the decision by Harrah’s to give one of the exemptions to the winner of a single table tournament for the WSOP Academy; regardless, it was Bertrand Grospellier who took it down and got in.  Aside from that, the poker community has been mixed on the line-up.  It seems they all agree those voted in certainly deserved it, but believed there were a few who may have been overlooked.

The two names I’ve heard mentioned the most were Erick Lindgren and Carlos Mortenson.  Lindgren’s success on the World Poker Tour and being named the WSOP Player of the Year in 2008 is hard to ignore.  As is Mortenson’s Main Event win in 2001 and subsequent success on the WPT, namely being the all-time money winner.  There is no doubt that these are two of the greatest players on the circuit, but when you boil it down, the T.O.C. is a popularity contest and the public voted on who they wanted to see.  Now, we just have to wait a couple more weeks to see who becomes Champion of Champions. 

Gytis from Lithuania!!! He joined in the sessions madness!

by Phil

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This is Gytis Bernatavicius on the right.  He was the fellow from Lithuania that won the freeroll event we had on UnabomberPoker.Com.  We flew him out to Vegas, hooked him up with a room, and here in this picture he is playing with me at hour 49 or so.  My buddy Bill took 90% of him (I would have but I did not want a conflict of interest arising at the table) and he played well.  If I recall he sat in the game, with 800 (80 was his) and played for about half an hour.  (Note the play over box next to him, that was my buddy Bill's stack.) 

Gytis happened to swing by at the perfect time.  Bill was going to dinner, the play over box idea hit us, and the timing could not have been better.  The action was frenetic at the time, lots of sickness at the table was happening.  Had Gytis got anything of a hand he was sure to get action.  However, the card gods gave him rubbish and nothing developed.  In the end he lost 100 or so dollars.  Nonetheless it was great meeting him and I was happy he got a chance to play during the record session.  

Anyway Gytis.... We will see you on your next visit to vegas (or my next visit to Lithuania!)

Cheers mate!

Phil

Post Enduro Challenge

by Phil

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Since the Enduro Challenge that I put myself thru I have noticed a great many changes in myself.  All positive.  All amazingly positive.

Before the enduro challenge if I ever gave advice to a friend it would be for them to go to Scandinavia (specifically Denmark and Sweden), South America (specifically Brazil), or to Asia (specifically Viet Nam, and Laos).  But now things are different.  Now I have lived life after the enduro challenge and I see that it is better than I had it before.  So now my new advice would be to stay awake for 100 hours or so.  Just do it.  Trust me.  You will be the better for it.

It crushes whatever you might get out of traveling to exotic and interesting different travel destinations.

Being awake for 4 days and 19 hrs straight was interesting in of itself but it is nothing compared to the experiences that I have had since. 

From the outset I did my best to approach this whole thing as a Man of Science.  Out of the gate I was happy to be my own human guinea pig in my own little experiment.  But I never expected such a remarkable difference in my day to day living post challenge.  What I expected was this.  Become massively tired on my way to beating the record, beat the record, go a little bit more, then go to sleep, and wake up refreshed sometime later and return to my life as usual.

But what happened was so much different.   First of all, I never anticipated feeling so strong at 80 hours, and clicking along for as long as I did, and secondly I never expected to feel so awesome in the weeks to follow.

Since the moment I woke from the challenge and straight thru to this very moment here is how things have been different for me.

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Confidence - Higher than ever, and does not seem to be waning

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General Love for Mankind, the Universe and all things... - Higher than ever before.

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My Poker Game - Improved (and I believe greatly!)  I have won 7 of the last 8 sessions.  I feel as if another door of the matrix has opened... I am seeing way more than I saw before.  It is hummingly trippy on so many levels.  I am fairly sure that this version of me would have huge edge over the version of me that was playing a mere month ago.

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Empathy Levels - Super high.  While on the 'life cycle' at the gym this week I was watching a show about the life and times of "Pink" the singer/song writer.  Pink shared a sad moment and it really hit me.  I started to cry.  I was sad so I cried.  I didn't catch myself and remind myself that I was at the gym nor did I see this as something to be embarrassed about.  I was sad so I cried.  It was simple.  Part way thru my cry I realized that this was for sure a new behavior for me.  I don't recall ever crying in a public place (movie theater's, funeral's and wedding's excluded).  And certainly not at the gym watching a TV show on the life cycle.  In the past if I was crying I was most likely alone or with at most one person. 

10 or so seconds into the cry I found myself happy that I was not finding it at all embarrassing.  The 'old' Phil would have his directionals on and not let this happen at the gym, at home maybe, but not at the gym.  But here I was:  I did not care one iota that I was on a life cycle machine at the gym crying.  I felt like I had taken a step closer to being self-actualized and it felt wonderful. 

On the same thought thread.... I saw Karate Kid this week (the new one).  There were many moments designed to evoke emotion.  And I let myself get swept away in each and every one.  I must have teared up or cried 4 or 5 times in that flick.  From experience I think a movie like that might have got at most one or two moments of 'tears' from me.  But the 'new' Phil was emotional then the old one and found himself crying at the very moments the director would have hoped for.

The newer and more sensitive Phil that I have been living with is, I believe, a better Phil.  I love this guy.  I want to hug him.  So score one up in the sensitivity department as I have more of it. 

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Patience for stuff - Off the charts.  Never mind the poker stuff.  It goes without saying that patience can really help a guy in a tough cash game, but that is not what I am talking about.  Just regular stuff.  My patience now seems to be infinite.  It feels super human, and I love it.

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Athletics - Crazy improvement.  I am hungry for the gym.  When I get there, I can't seem to get enough.  I have been playing Michael Binger in racquet ball for about 2 years now and have never beaten him.  The most points I think I ever got against him was 7 or 8 points.  But this week I felt like that was going to change, and it did.  The last three games went....

15 - 11 him
15 - 13 him
15 - 12 ME!!!  I did it, I finally cracked it.  I went from never having a shot against this machine to finally doing it!  Amazing.

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Happiness - I know it has only been two weeks, but for sure I have been happier overall.  I was always fairly good about this.  After all, it is not that hard.  Happiness is a choice after all.  However, that being said, something extra has found its way into my life.  Hard to put my finger on it, but it is real, and I am living it.  I only hope that it keeps on ticking well beyond just these two weeks. 

A distinctly powerful and solid feeling of happiness and well being has enveloped me since the challenge, and it feels great!

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My over all passion for everything - For sure has increased. 

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I can only hope that whatever changed in me stays with me forever.  I have had some crazy lucky turns in my life, but this really takes the cake.   

Phil Laak
The Happiest Degen to Have Ever Lived!