Martin Hummel Smashes Online Poker Record With 76-Hour Session

Dutch poker player and streamer Martin Hummel has completed an extraordinary 76-hour online poker marathon, surpassing the existing Guinness World Records mark by 27 hours. Hummel began the challenge on August 14 and played through his 44th birthday before finally ending the session after more than three full days at the virtual tables. His performance still needs to be formally verified by Guinness World Records.

The attempt took place on GGPoker and was broadcast live online. Hummel originally intended to stop after 72 hours, with that milestone timed to coincide with his birthday on August 17. Once he got there, however, he decided there was enough left in the tank for another four hours.

The result was a 76-hour session that went far beyond the previous official benchmark.

This was not Hummel's first attempt at the online poker endurance record.

In 2021, the Dutchman played for 48 hours and had the achievement recognized by Guinness World Records. Two years later, Spain's Sergio García raised the bar to 49 hours during a marathon in Madrid.

Guinness still lists García's performance, completed between June 29 and July 1, 2023, as the official record. The organization notes that records are not necessarily published immediately, and Hummel's new attempt has yet to complete the verification process.

If approved, however, the difference will be enormous. Hummel did not merely edge past the existing record: he added another 27 hours to it.

Hummel kept things varied during the marathon, playing several formats on GGPoker, including MTTs, Rush & Cash and Mystery Battle Royale.

Despite the extreme length of the session, he also managed to finish slightly ahead financially.

Hummel entered 65 multi-table tournaments during the challenge and cashed in 16 of them. He also recorded a tournament victory following a three-way deal. His total tournament buy-ins came to approximately €900, while his returns were around €1,000.

That left him with a modest profit from the tournament portion of the marathon — although the financial result was clearly secondary to the record attempt itself.

Simply keeping the tables open for 76 hours is not enough to establish a Guinness record. The attempt had to be documented so that the evidence could subsequently be reviewed.

Witnesses were therefore present throughout the marathon, rotating in four-hour shifts to maintain continuous oversight. The challenge was also recorded and streamed, providing further documentation for the eventual Guinness submission.

The preparation was particularly important because Hummel had already experienced the complexities of Guinness verification during his previous record attempt. Reports from the Netherlands indicate that technical systems, witness scheduling, livestreaming and communication were all tested in advance this time around.

The marathon also served a charitable purpose. Hummel raised around €600 for Stichting DierenLot, a Dutch organization supporting animal welfare.

Spending more than three days on an online poker record might sound like a once-in-a-lifetime undertaking, but Hummel has made a habit of testing his endurance.

In 2023, he completed another marathon challenge by working as a roulette dealer for more than 71 hours. That achievement was also subsequently recognized by Guinness World Records.

There is another recurring theme: birthdays. Hummel has used them as milestones for more than one of his endurance attempts, and this year's poker marathon was designed to reach its original 72-hour target on the morning he turned 44.

This time he simply kept going.

For now, García remains the official holder of the longest online poker marathon according to the Guinness database. But if Hummel's evidence is approved, the record will jump from 49 hours to 76 hours — a massive increase that could make the next attempt considerably more daunting.