The BBC reports that 24 players in Greenwich, south-east London have
since Friday evening been playing poker without interruption in an
attempt to set a new world record for continuous poker playing.
The players began their endurance bid on Friday night in the Basement
Jacks club in the suburb, each putting GBP 20 in the pot, with the
winner taking half of the money and the rest going to charity.
After 37 hours, player Sarah Lawrence said: "We're playing
like madmen and bouncing off the walls." By midmorning
UK time Sunday the game, which started at 9.00pm Friday was still
going strong, but the BBC has issued no further reports since then.
The group's goal was to keep playing for 43 hours or more, taking
breaks only for refreshments and biological visits
Lawrence told the BBC that she was keeping awake with energy drinks,
brief walks to stretch her legs and watching classic poker movies.
"We've been up all night and the only break you're allowed
is to go to the toilet or get something to eat," she said.
"We're going for 43 hours or maybe more. We've been through
all the emotions. We started off just really high and really happy
about being record breakers. Then we went through vague tiredness
and there were a few frayed tempers and a bit of grumpiness.
"Now we're playing like madmen and bouncing off the walls. But
there's a tired determination to keep going."
Update:
Our story earlier this week that 24 players in London aimed to set
a new world record by playing uninterrupted poker for more than 43
hours provoked several, and mainly American pokerheads to argue that
longer games than that in the States are not uncommon.
This week the BBC reported that the London attempt, which started
at Basement Jacks club last Friday night, ended on Sunday afternoon
after 43 hours and 30 minutes.
The BBC report said that two independent moderators had monitored
the bid, and the final number will go to the arbiters at Guinness
World Records for verification.
Meanwhile, Poker Listings commented that regardless of the final decision
at Guinness, online card forums are rife with talk that the claimed
record is far from the longest uninterrupted poker game ever. Two-day
straight sessions are said to be frequent in the industry, and several
notable poker games have carried on for much longer than that, players
say, with varied amounts of time allotted for "breaks."