115 hours of non-stop poker - Phil Luck's brilliant record
All kinds of things have happened in the world of poker - pots for millions, shootouts at the "dawn" of the game, legendary bluffs, monstrous doses of luck and what not. Many of the "achievements" never enter the official statistics of the game, but there are some that even have a place in the Guinness Book of Records.
Hundreds of thousands of unheard of (and shocking) records are present in the most famous book of achievements, and even the legendary poker session of one of the best players in the world - Phil Laak - finds a place in it. The Irishman recorded one of the most amazing sessions in history, sitting at the tables at the Bellagio in Las Vegas.
In 2010 and at the age of 37, Phil Laak is in the "capital of gambling" for the World Series of Poker, but he sits down at the casino cash tables on June 2nd and doesn't get up until June 7th. He spent a full 115 hours playing non-stop (minutes and seconds are not mentioned in the record), beating the previous record of 72 hours and 2 minutes set in 2004.
“115 hours? I definitely need to get my head examined. I'm definitely sick," Laak quips after being told he's set a Guinness World Record. However, his record is not accidental, but completely deliberate.
He has been physically preparing for it since January 2010, dieting heavily in the months leading up to the Bellagio. The "event" itself was captured by webcams and streamed live around the clock, with hundreds of thousands watching Laak on a daily basis. He had a nutritionist at his disposal who prepared a different menu for him every 5 hours. An interesting fact is that he did not use any drugs or stimulants to stay awake that long.
In the nearly 5 days, he even managed to accumulate a profit of $6766, which is an amazing achievement considering the fatigue he must have been feeling.