How long can you and your friends last in a single poker session? Well, whatever your answer is, I’m pretty sure you won’t be able to eclipse Paul Zimbler, who was able to play for an astounding 74 hours, 20 minutes, and 21 seconds of poker, effectively beating the world record and earning £35,000 for charity.
Zimbler began his attempt last Tuesday, September 22. He played against anyone from the general public to media personalities to poker pros to poker legends. Among his opponents were Annette Obrestad, the 21 year old female poker pro from Norway, Phil Hellmuth, the Poker Brat, and Mike Matusow, “The Mouth”. Paul Zimbler also played against none other than the godfather of poker himself, Doyle Brunson – Paul’s opponent when the whole record-breaking session began.
At The Finish Line
Among the poker pros, Zimbler’s last opponent at the 74 hour mark was Matusow. It was by far the toughest match yet, as Zimbler was at his threshold. The fatigue was showing in his actions; and you could clearly see that 3 straight days without sleep had really taxed him. To make matters more difficult for Zimbler, Matusow, true to his reputation as “the mouth”, mocked him so that he would keep playing and playing. And of course, since Zimbler was so close to beating the record, people were all expressing their support through excited screams and cheers. Two and a half hours after he beat Larry Olmsted’s record of 72 hours, Paul Zimbler was so fatigued that he had to be carried away from his chair. The mental and physical strain had finally taken its toll on him. It was a really good thing then that there was a professional team stationed nearby because he certainly seemed to be in bad shape as he left the table.
Let No one Ever Say that Poker is Bad for Kids
But aside from becoming immortalized in the Guinness’ Book of World Records, Zimbler has so much more to be proud of. His efforts were all dedicated to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. And the £35,000 he won in the 1,843 hands he played would all be going to the said charity. All in all, he played in 183 sessions and won 103 of them, an astounding 57%. And that’s truly impressive, considering that he was playing nonstop for days on end. Let’s hope that Paul Zimbler has gotten some rest and relaxation, he certainly deserves it after all he did for the children in Make-A-Wish.
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Nice!!