Zach Gensler is about to break Phil Laak’s Guiness World record for the longest poker session ever, which has stood for over a decade.
Back in 2010, Phil “The Unabomber” Laak played at the Bellagio for 115 hours straight, sealing his entry into the Guinness Book of Records. At the time of writing, this record looks as if it will be broken in six hours.
Hour 109 pic.twitter.com/cKGSsIcMY0
— TimeTravelerPoker (@TimeTraveler524) November 1, 2021
— TimeTravelerPoker (@TimeTraveler524) November 1, 2021
How Poker Changed Zach Gensler’s Life
When Zach Gensler’s mother passed away in 2008 he was understandably depressed and at a loss as how to recover his joy for life. Taking up poker turned out to be the tool he was looking for.
Soon after taking up the game he amazingly hit not one but two bad-beat jackpots which really got him going in his new hobby.
It was during these early years that Gensler would have seen Phil Laak set his record; one that most thought would never be broken, but not everyone.
If you’re not running deep in the @WSOP Colossus or another event, you may want to head over to the @PokerRoomRWLV as @TimeTraveler524 is a little over 24 hours away of a 120 hour poker session.
Might want to bring him some @Breinfuel too.#pokerlife https://t.co/DWe54TZUp6
— Chad McVean (@Veaner85) October 31, 2021
And so, in 2019 Zach Gensler decided to go for an 80-hour training session at the Aria Hotel and Casino, with a view to a proper record attempt later in the year.
The 80 hours were completed simply enough but for unknown reasons we didn’t hear how the record attempt went.
Resorts World Sets the Stage
Although it was the Aria Hotel and Casino who provided the venue two years ago, Resorts World has set the stage for what looks like the record breaking session.
Gary Hager, Resorts World Director of Poker Operations said:
“Zach didn’t ask much from us other than if we would like him to go for it in our room. We put together a special clock with 100, 60-minute levels so it’s easy to see where he is at in each photo or twitter post. He is asking for signatures and names of witnesses to substantiate the record. He is also taking small videos and storing on memory cards to document the session.”
The rules of the challenge stipulate that Gensler is allowed a five-minute break every hour and can bank these minutes for later use as he sees fit. He indicated that his plan going into the challenge would be to sleep for three hours every two days.
Sadly, it looks as if Phil Laak is not interested in either helping Zach Gensler break his long-standing record or build up awareness of the challenge.
Gensler tried to reach out before his 2019 80-hour session and make a side bet with the loser buying the other into the WSOP Main Event. Sadly, even after Aria Director of Poker operations Sean McCormack helped pass a message on there was no response.
Best of luck to Zach Gensler who looks almost certain to achieve his dream in the next few hours.
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