About a year ago, Britain’s Paul Zimbler played poker for over 72 consecutive hours at the World Series of Poker Europe, making his stamp on the Guinness Book of World Records. Then, this June, Phil “The Unabomber” Laak crushed Zimbler’s mark, playing $10/$20 Hold’em at the Bellagio in Las Vegas for 115 hours straight. Many thought it would take someone with no fear to attempt to best Laak. It looks like this November, there may be as many as 80 someones.
A New Zealand group called NZ Poker Tours is organizing an event in which it hopes that at least two people will set a new Guinness World Record for poker endurance. Unlike Laak, who played cash games for his record, the NZ Poker Tour group will make its attempt by playing in a tournament. The organization is looking for 80 players to participate in the event, which will begin on November 22nd at the Grand Hotel in Wanganui, New Zealand.
The No Limit Hold’em tournament will donate all proceeds to charity. It will feature unlimited rebuys for $20 each. The blinds will not increase until the record has been broken and to help prevent players from busting out, each stack will have a specially marked chip that will remind players that their stack is getting low.
And while it is a poker endurance record setting attempt, it is obviously unreasonable to expect someone to sit at the table for five days straight without getting up. Therefore, every player is allowed one five-minute break each hour. These breaks can be banked, so if someone doesn’t take a break for four hours, he will be able to leave the table for 20 minutes. Food and drink will be permitted at the table as long as they do not interfere with the flow of the game. After all, if there’s a significant pause for dinner to be served, then poker is not being played and a record can’t be set. Those who plan to imbibe to excess, however, need not attend – event organizers will not tolerate drunks. The same goes for drugs. No stimulants or illegal narcotics are permitted.
Side games will also be running during the big tournament, although they do not count towards the world record. They are simply for anyone who wants to be close to the action and play some poker at the same time. Prizes will be offered to the winners of these “Mini Tournaments,” including seats in the main event. Of course, anyone who takes a seat partway through won’t qualify to be in the pages of the Guinness Book of World Record, but it will still be a thrill to be part of the fun.
As mentioned earlier, this is a charity tournament, with proceeds going to a number of children’s charities, including the Make-A-Wish Foundation and Starship Children’s Hospital. Even though there isn’t a big cash purse to win, the eventual champion will still receive a glass trophy handmade by local artist Vicky Rodgers. All players will also receive a certificate indicating how many hours they survived. Those interested in participating can visit PokerWorldRecord.co.nz for all the details.
As for Laak, the current world record holder, his sleep deprivation apparently did not hurt his poker abilities. The front man for Unabomber Poker won his first World Series of Poker bracelet last week, taking the first event, No Limit Hold’em Six-Handed, at the 2010 World Series of Poker Europe. For his efforts, Laak took home £170,000 ($266,207).
