A little over a year ago, on one of the world’s largest stages, Paul Zimbler played poker for over 72 consecutive hours, getting his name into the Guinness Book of World Records. This June, Phil “The Unabomber” Laak played $10/$20 Hold’em at the Bellagio for an amazing 115 straight hours, streaming his insanity online for the world to see. Hopefully, his name was written in pencil, as there is now a new poker endurance record holder.
Make that two record holders.
At Noon on Saturday, Christie Teki-Reu and a man who goes by the nickname Chopper eclipsed Laak’s mark together at the Grand Hotel in Wanganui, New Zealand. For good measure, they played another two hours, just to make sure that their title was undisputed.
The world record run was put together by NZ Poker Tours, which organized a charity tournament in an effort to get at least two players across the finish line. The previous records, on the other hand, were achieved in cash games. The organization wanted to get 80 players registered for the tournament, but only eight players began the journey last Monday at 5:00pm. It was not expected, however, that more than two players would make it all the way to the end. It was a tournament, after all, which means that players could be eliminated. To keep people in the game, unlimited rebuys were allowed for a $20 donation and each stack contained a special chip to remind players when they were getting low. Blinds did not increase until the record was attained.
In addition to raising money for charity, it appeared that the idea of attempting to break the record in a tournament could keep morale high. The more people who were at the table, all working towards the same goal, the easier it would be for at least a couple of them to make it the full 115-plus hours.
In order to make the record attempt a bit more humane, a few concessions were made. Every player was allowed a five-minute break each hour. These breaks were not mandatory, so the minutes could be banked to create a larger break later. Food and drink were allowed at the table as long as they didn’t interfere with the game. Drinking alcohol in excess was not permitted, nor were stimulants and illegal drugs.
With only eight players in the tournament, they either had to avoid eliminations or continually rebuy to have a shot at the record. The first knockout came four-and-a-half hours into the marathon, while another player quit early the first morning.
According to Rhoda MacKenzie‘s recounting of the event, it was when Thursday rolled around that things got very difficult for the remaining competitors. MacKenzie, one of the Tournament Directors, said that she and her fellow staff required some of the players to take a break to try to regain their composure. The situation had gotten so bad that she had this to say about Wendy Coley‘s elimination after 75 hours: “Wendy stated later that she thought it was raining inside from the table to the roof! That’s what sleep deprivation will do.”
On Friday, one delirious player said, “I dont know what I’m doing here, and what game are we are playing? Poker? I don’t know how to play that!” He was examined by medics and required to withdraw from the tournament for the protection of his health.
Finally, at Noon on Saturday, the two surviving players, Teki-Reu and Chopper, crossed the 115-hour line together and continued to play for two more hours for good measure. On their final hand, they both folded, stood up, and stepped back from the table, officially ending the ordeal. Teki-Reu was named the official winner of the tournament by virtue of having more chips, but that was a secondary achievement to the world record.
To celebrate, Teki-Reu went home, slept from 3:00pm to 8:00pm, and slept again from 10:00pm until 8:00am. Read more.
