Jun
2
by Taylor Kent
Outside it’s a typical June day here in Las Vegas, with the sun beating down and the desert wind kicking up dust. Inside the crowded Bellagio poker room it’s business as usual as well, with one small exception - our man Phil Laak is trying to break the Guinness record for the longest individual poker playing endurance marathon in world history.
To put it lightly, this attempt is an extreme test of endurance. Phil’s going for 80 hours of poker, and he’s allotted just five minutes of break time for every consecutive hour of poker that he plays. That adds up to just 6 hours and 40 minutes of break time over the course of three and a half days. He can build them up and use them all together (e.g. he could take a 30-minute break after playing for six straight hours), and he can use the break time for anything he wants - using the bathroom, grabbing a meal, or even sleeping.
However, there are some limitations - for instance, he can’t build up a bunch of break time and then tack it on at the end as part of the marathon record. Every accounted minute of the record attempt has to be spent at the poker table. The good news is that the use of those break minutes is at his discretion - which means there will be some strategic issues to consider. Is it better to take frequent, short breaks to stay fresh? Or is the best method to grind out a long string of hours and then catch a few Z’s?
Phil got his world record attempt started at 12:04pm PT today. If he can make it to the end, he should break the record around 7pm PT on Saturday evening. He’s playing full-ring $10/$20 no-limit hold’em with a table full of grinders, and just an hour in there were already a few interested observers hanging around. And the players hanging around the periphery of the Bellagio poker room waiting on games are talking about him - they don’t all seem to know exactly what this whole thing is all about, but they definitely know who Phil is and they know he’s up to something special, since there are cameras recording his every move to document the attempt for Guinness.
It’s far from a guarantee that he’ll break the record - but if anybody’s got this kind of feat in them, it’s Phil Laak. Whether he makes it or not, I’ll be checking in on him the entire way, so make sure to keep an eye on this blog for more updates from the Bellagio. And be sure to check out Phil's Twitter feed, as well as the live stream that's following his every move.
May
31
by Jake
As we mentioned earlier, Unabomber Poker is sending three poker players to Las Vegas for the chance to take on Phil Laak in a heads-up cash game while he attempts to break the Guinness World Record for the longest poker session.
Congratulations to Gytis Bernatavicius who Unabomber Poker will be flying in to Vegas from his home in Lithuania. Gytis will be staying at the Bellagio Hotel and Casino where Phil’s poker endurance contest is taking place.
Good luck at the poker table in Vegas Gytis.
Phil starts his record breaking attempt this Wednesday at noon local time. Stay tuned to the Unabomber Poker Blog for regular updates.
May
28
by Jake
We have our first winner in our contest to send three people to Vegas to stay at the Bellagio and take on a sleepy Phil Laak.
Unabomber Poker is sending three people to Vegas for chance to play in a cash game against Phil Laak as he attempts to break the Guinness World Record for longest poker session ever played. The first winner has just been picked. Congratulations to Unabomber Poker player Daryl Waite!
Daryl will be flown down to Vegas and provided with a room at the Bellagio as he gets to take a crack at some heads up cash game action with Phil Laak in his sleep deprived state.
Daryl won the writing portion of the contest with a jaunty little poem he wrote. His winning poem is posted below.
Hello there Phil, my name is Waite.
It sounds to me like this challenge will be great.
Here is why in your semi-conscious state
you will remember me as your finest table mate.
While breaking the record will be a huge beat,
your heads up play I will mightily defeat.
I will pour you some coffee to keep you awake
while you call your backers and ask for a stake.
80 hours is more than three days,
so you'll have plenty of time to count all the ways
to re-build your roll after sitting with me
when I tear you apart for being so nit-tee.
You may not recall but we've played once before,
last year in Shelton, a town near the shore.
I outplayed you then and I will once again,
but it's not my main goal to cause you great pain.
The good news for you is the record you'll slash,
and once it's all done and I have all your cash,
and I'm out at the clubs with my friends enjoying some booze
you'll have plenty of time for a much needed snooze.
So I look forward to our match as I'm sure you do too.
Nothing short of a new record for the big book will do.
Jen will be so proud of her man for his feat,
and with my new winnings I'll buy a World Series seat.
May
20
by Phil
I still remember to this day looking through an old copy of the Guinness Book of World Records. I read it from cover to cover. It wasn’t long before I started thinking of breaking one of these records and getting myself into that book. There were a few that I thought I had a shot at.
I remember two of them. Pogo stick hops and memorizing pi. Basically drawn dead and not knowing it I made a few futile attempts at both of these and soon learned the harsh but real truth. Getting the record for something when you are up against billions of people is more difficult then I had suspected. At one point I even entertained the idea of starting a new category. Of course, that went nowhere as well, and by the time High School rolled around I had accepted my fate. Getting into the Guinness Book of World Records wasn’t going to be happening for me. Ok, no worries, move on.
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Cut to about 8 years ago I found myself playing an enduro session of poker. Over time I played maybe about 10 or so of these enduro sessions (all between 40 and 60 hours) and it got me to thinking.
Maybe getting into that book is not so far fetched after all. Maybe, just maybe this could be it! There were only three things in the way.
1) I always seemed to fall asleep at the table.
2) Every few years the record got harder and harder to beat. (Others were thinking the same thing as me!) And…
3) With each new enduro session getting it done took more effort than the one before.
On the plus side…
1) I know that deep down in me is a machine that seems fueled by the impossibility of it all.
2) If I knew I was going for an official record, then maybe I could dodge the ‘between hand naps’ altogether.
And let’s face it, what would life be without challenges? Well, it would be living I suppose, but just not as fun. And fun is a major tenet in my life philosophy so I thought I would give it a try.
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Anyway, I have been training since January 1 for this event. Time to beat: 78 hours. Held by my buddy from across the pond, Paul Zimbler.
What have I been doing to train you ask? Good question. Basically here is the run down.
Essentially I broke it down into three components. Body, mind, and spirit.
For my BODY:
I have been running, swimming, or going to the gym 5 times a week.
I have kept a tight leash on what I put into my body food wise. Great diet. (Special emphasis on not eating anything fried, cheese, or ice cream.) (By the way, I really love popcorn shrimp, fried calamari, mint flavored ice cream and Gouda cheese.) But more on this under ‘Spirit”.
For my MIND:
Every time I was eating well or at the gym I tried to remind myself that through these actions breaking the record would become effortless. (Neuro-linguistic programming at work.)
For my SPIRIT:
Each time I see fried food, cheese and ice cream I converted those food items into trigger points of effortless detachment. The thinking goes like this. By training myself to not want things I want very much, I will be ready and prepared to effortlessly not want the sleep that my body will inevitably want VERY badly. 6 months of training of not getting what I want will give me the much needed edge I will need.
If mint ice cream happens to be in front of me, now instead of craving it (or any of my other favorite foods) I am reminded of how effortless it is to not want the things I want. My will power is at an all time life high because of this.
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For what it’s worth. This training did not come from some secret military training manual or anything. I came up with all of this on my own. It may sound like a crack pot sort of training regimen but to be honest… every time I look at it, it seems genius. Maybe it is in some sort of weird top secret military manual and we just have never seen it. Titled… “How to beat the need for sleep on weird navy recon spy missions” or something like that.
How do I feel today?
My weight has dropped from 211 to 190. I feel fantastic. My will power is at an all time high, and I am ready to take on this challenge.
The Bellagio has agreed to host this event. I plan on starting at noon on the 2nd of June. And my goal is to get to 80 hours.
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I have played many enduro sessions of poker, but never anything of this magnitude. I know this will test my limits but I love a good challenge and am excited to be trying to beat this record in Vegas’ top poker room.
Good luck to me!
Phil Laak
Degen for Life