It’s time for our weekly spin around the poker news, which starts off with some ominous headlines of hacking. One of the world’s biggest villains appears to be meddling in the online poker realm as well.
North Korean Hackers Targeting Online Poker
Tensions between North Korea and the rest of the world are ramping up as they continue to defy requests to stop their nuclear missile testing program. Now it appears that the country is involved in even more forbidden activity.
Hackers in North Korea, working closely with the government, have apparently tried to get into online poker rooms and steal money, says a cybersecurity report from South Korea. The South’s Financial Security Institute has indicated that North Korea is behind the group called Lazarus, which many security firms have linked to last year’s $81 million cyber heist from a Bangladesh central bank. The same group was also behind Sony’s Hollywood studio hacking.
Now similar North Korean hacking groups are targeting poker sites for both cash as well as identities so that they can use them at local ATMs to withdraw cash. More than eight different hacking instances were reported over the last few years but the attempts are now ramping up.
To be clear, it is hard to directly prove who is behind the hacks because there are many ways to hide online. However, it is important for online poker players to be extra vigilant with their sensitive information these days.
Poker Player Fisher Wins Million-Dollar Bet
They say you have to be careful betting with friends and it looks like Walter Fisher’s buddies have learned a lesson.
Walter Fisher is a professional poker player from New York whose biggest payday had been $90,535, which he won for fourth place at a Legends of Poker event in 2014. He also recently won $18,693 for finishing 748th at the World Series Of Poker Main Event. However, he just pulled off his biggest payday by a wide margin as he won $1 million from some friends for losing weight. The bet was that he had to burn off a certain amount of body fat in six months, and he came through.
Fisher got some backing from fellow poker professionals Dan Blizerian and Bill Perkins, and then he started to work with Chris DiVecchio, who is a personal trainer that is based out of Los Angeles. Fisher started at 33% body fat on December 22, 2016, when the bet was made, and he was at 8.8% as of June 22, 2017.
Fisher is still working with DiVecchio as he wants to add some muscle mass to his frame now. Although it was a costly bet for his friends, Fisher is thankful that he did this because he is much healthier than he was before.
Poker Night In America Announces August Dates
Poker Night In America hasn’t taken off like many thought that it would, but that isn’t from a lack of trying. They’ve announced their next wave of dates, which will take place in August.
Poker Night in America will head to the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open in Florida in August to broadcast from four tournaments, called “The Big 4”. One tournament starts August 9, then the 11th, then two more million-dollar tournaments kick off on the 13th and 14th as well. All four tournaments will be shown at the same time until the final day on the 15th.
There is also a high-roller game that will be shown from the 17th to the 19th. On the 22nd, there will be the “King OF The Hill” tournament in New York featuring Phil Hellmuth, and then there is an invite-only cash game from the 24th to the 25th. All of this will be shown on the Twitch channel for “Poker Night In America”. You can also find live streams on their website.