Phil Laak’s Poker World Record Challenged in Austria

While Phil Laak sleeps on his accomplishments, a group of Europeans is taking aim at his world record.

Phil Laak’s 115-hour Guinness World Record for the longest continuous poker session has only been set for a few weeks, but it’s already under assault.

Laak set the record when he played 115 straight hours of poker at Bellagio earlier this month. Despite setting an original goal of just 80 hours, he continued to push through until finally giving in to sleep at the 115-hour mark, smashing both the previous official record of 72 hours held by Larry Olmstead and the unofficial record of 78 hours and 45 minutes held by Paul Zimbler. 

Now a group of poker amateurs in Austria is attempting to break Laak’s mark. The seven players, led by German screenwriter, actor and film director Max Krückl, are aiming for a mark of 150 hours. According to the official website of the challenge, PokerWeltRekord.com, the group’s goal is “to challenge and to cross the limits of what is humanly possible, not for money but for honor.” 

The attempt at setting a new world record is taking place at the Kufsteinerhof Hotel and Restaurant in Kufstein, Austria, in the Alpine region of Tirol. Play got underway at 7:14 a.m. local time in Austria this past Saturday, and if successful in breaking the record the group will play poker at least through Friday morning. 

“Together,” says the website, “we will bring the world record from Las Vegas to Tirol!”

All seven players are under medical supervision in case anything should go wrong. There is a tab on the website set up to display a live stream of the event, though it appears that there have been some technical difficulties. However, according to the website, the stream is due to come back online today, so you can check out the attempt to take down the Phil Laak world record for yourself.