The World Series Of Poker Europe isn’t all about tight hands and pressure betting, it turns out. Paul Zimbler proved that Thursday (or should I say on Tuesday through Thursday) by successfully breaking the world record for the longest recorded continuous poker session at London’s Casino at the Empire.
Zimbler played 183 heads up sessions over more than 74 hours, winning a remarkable 102 of those and altogether raising an impressive £35,000 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
Some of that total was donated by the substantial lineup of pros Zimbler faced, including Doyle Bruson, Annette Obrestad, Phil Hellmuth, and Mike Matusow. Matusow had by far the toughest match, playing Zimbler in the 74th hour and through the threshold of the record, which now stands at 74 hours, 20 minutes and 21 seconds.
Matusow employed a mock-him-so-he-keeps-playing strategy, which—combined with the large crowd of people hollering support at him—might have been the main reason Zimbler was in visibly rough shape by the time he broke the record. Or maybe it was that he hadn’t slept in three calendar days.
It should go without saying that you should not attempt a record like this yourself. That said, if you were thinking about it, let that dream go. I get that you have played some epic sessions, but Zimbler was playing in a substantially more draining environment than your den, and was wearing clothes, not a robe. And let’s not forget he was doing it for the children.
Good work, Paul. Now get some sleep.
