The life of a poker player can take one on a series of twists and turns. For those on the tournament circuit, many of the top players can find themselves on the road for weeks or months at a time. As a result, many of them find themselves engaging in rather strange antics to keep themselves occupied and in full public view. One perfect example of this is the player nicknamed the Unabomber, Phil Laak.
Laak, by all measures, leads quite an interesting life. Along with friends like Antonio Esfandiari, whom is known to goad him into some lavish prop bets, Laak is usually at the forefront of something. Getting together with longtime girlfriend turned poker pro Jennifer Tilly, further made him a household name. Now, however, Laak is seeking to obtain a bit of poker immortality with his announcement of his intention to break the record for the world’s longest poker session.
Record for the World’s Longest Poker Session
Currently, the record is held by an Englishman by the name of Paul Zimbler who played for an astounding 74 hours, 20 minutes and 21 seconds during the 2009 WSOP Europe. If Laak has his way, that record will come crashing down sometime on June 6th. On June 2nd, Laak will make his way into the poker room at the Bellagio and will not stop until the record is his.
When asked for a quote regarding his record breaking attempt, Laak said
“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.”
Judging by that last comment, it seems this may be a publicity stunt in partnership with the Vegas casino. Should Laak succeed, his feat would most likely be topped soon after since once other players get wind of this, someone, somewhere will try to outdo him. Either way, it will make for some interesting banter as the 2010 World Series of Poker gets underway.
