Poker is a tremendously strategic game, where tug-of-war between opponents is common. Sometimes, the process of reading a game can take so long, and the caution of the players can reach such an extreme, that the games can go on for several hours.
This is common in professional poker games, but there are some that have earned their place in the top of the longest games in history. Let’s take a look at some of them, and analyze what factors contributed to the game lasting longer than expected.
What was the longest poker game?
The longest poker game ever recorded took place in 2010 at the Bellagio Hotel casino in Las Vegas. It was Phil Laak who played for 5 days in what seemed like an endless game.
At that time, there were no measures to limit the duration of the games, so it seemed that the game could last several hours more. That game was precisely the one that allowed Phil Laak to enter the Guinness Book of Records as the person who has played poker for the most consecutive hours.
Nothing on that day foreshadowed that the game was going to last for almost a week. Phil Laak arrived accompanied by his wife at the Bellagio Hotel, and the game began on a Wednesday at 12:00. The virtual session that ended the game ended on Monday around 7:00. In total, Laak accumulated a total of 115 consecutive hours of play, or about 5 full days.
The game was followed by more than 130,000 people from 80 different countries with access to the virtual webcast of the game. The fact that the cameras recorded the entire game made it possible to confirm not only that Laak did indeed play in marathon sessions, but also that he did not consume caffeine or any other stimulant, something beyond the reach of a normal person that demonstrates Laak’s enormous mental and physical strength. No one has so far managed to emulate the feat of the Irish-American player.
Although a 5-minute break was allowed for every hour of play, throughout Laak’s 115 hours of play, he barely rested 30 minutes. And the game did not last longer due to Laak’s own caution, since he decided to end the game “so as not to expose his body to further damage”, as he himself said.
It is one of the great poker games in recent history, and none has yet managed to dethrone Laak’s nearly five-day-long game.
Other poker games that broke records of duration
In the list of the longest poker games in history there are others that also deserve to be known for their duration. Without reaching Laak’s marathon game, they are something out of the ordinary that can hardly take place in normal conditions.
At the time, the game played by Larry Olmsted broke the record for duration. It took place in 2004, and it stood out precisely because of the marathon game he played, even spending 3 whole days playing at the Foxwood Casino.
Paul Zimber is another player who usually sneaks in when talking about the longest poker games. This one is usually referred to in petit comité, since it was not an official game: Zimber played almost 79 consecutive hours non-stop in 2003.
Among the verified games, we have one from 1949 that was a milestone at the time. Johnny Moss and Nick Dandolos played the longest non-stop poker game at Binion’s Horseshoe Casino in Las Vegas. The head-to-head between these two poker legends went on for five months, with breaks of four to five days in between. However, it is said that they barely slept on those days of disconnection, so the mental exhaustion of both players was put to the test for almost 150 days.
This duel only ended when Dandolos himself decided to put an end to the eternal head-to-head, conceding to Moss. They alternated different types of poker, sometimes leaving aside Texas Hold’em. They even faced strong ups and downs during those five months. Moss accumulated 2 million dollars in winnings in what would be the game that would encourage the creation of a world series of poker.
If we talk about unverified games, we have to take more faith and some are even skeptical about the veracity of these games. For example, it is said that in the basement of the Bird Cage Theatre in Tombstone a game was held between several card players that lasted for eight years, between 1881 and 1889.
Wealthy businessmen of the time were in that basement continuously and it is said that there was always someone playing, although this is difficult to corroborate because there are hardly any reliable sources or documentation that attest to the existence of a game of that caliber.
Be that as it may, the truth is that it is now that there are written rules on the duration of poker games. In the past there was hardly any regulation in this regard and the games could be extended indefinitely, testing the patience of many and turning poker duels into a duel between true titans unable to give their arm to twist. An essence that remains today, but much more regulated so as not to compromise the health of the players involved.