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Not For Laak of Trying; Player Sets Record Playing Live Poker for More Than 115 Hours (whew)

Poker star Phil Laak, 37, played live poker for over 115 hours with a net of $6766 at the Bellagio in Las Vegas during the World Series of Poker – setting the new world record for the longest poker game.

That’s pretty cool, doncha think?

The previous Guinness world record for the longest poker game
was 72 hours and 2 minutes, held by Larry Olmsted, set at the Foxwood casino in 2004, but in poker circles the world record set by Dave Cain, 74 hours and 12 minutes at the Library Bar in Lincolnshire, England.

“Wow, 115 hours, I should have my head examined,” said Laak, as the number appeared on the running clock on a laptop screen next to his seat at the Bellagio Hotel-Casino in Las Vegas. “I am definitely sick.”

He was permitted a five-minute break for every hour he played and could bank those for longer breaks. While he vowed he did not consume any caffeine or stimulants, he did manage at least one 30-minute nap.

Laak is the boyfriend of Academy Award nominee Jennifer Tilly, an actress who in recent years has also become a poker professional.

Laak did it while playing $10-$20 at the Bellagio in Las Vegas during the World Series of Poker.

Thanks for this report by our correspondent in Las Vegas.