3-Barrels of pure value including World Poker Tour Deepstacks Ambassador Tristan Wade launching a World Series of Poker Vlog; cyber security firm Bastille finding a potential wireless keyboard hack, and a Buddhist monk sentenced to 30-months behind bars for gambling away his temple’s money.
The 47th Annual World Series of Poker (WSOP) was a resounding success. A record 107,833 entrants competed in the event from 107 different countries, and there will still be so many poker fans from all areas of the globe who have never set foot in the place.
And, this is where Tristan Wade steps in.
The WSOP bracelet winner, WPTDeepstacks Ambassador, and all round too good looking to be true nice guy will give you an insight into those crazy few months in a series of VLOGS he filmed as he was getting his ass handed to him on a plate day after day.
So far Wade has released three videos.
In the first instalment he talks about the importance of keeping the finer details of his swaps/sales on an Excel spreadsheet:
“Being organised is important.” Says Wade.
He then busts a series of events before competing in the World Series of Soccer with his roommate Timothy Adams, where his side wins 10-9 (are you sure you wasn’t playing rugby?) and it ends with him making Day 2 of a $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em (NLHE) event.
I won’t spill the rest of his beans.
The first video started off a little slow, but I felt like Wade slipped into the storytelling role with peak efficiency by the time the third video was rolling. It’s a great insight into the WSOP for people who have never taken part. I am looking forward to videos four onwards.
You can take a look at Tristan Wade’s YouTube Channel right here.
Wireless Keyboard Hacking Scare
Do you own a wireless keyboard from HP, Toshiba, Radio Shack, Kensington, Insignia, General Electric, Anker or EagleTec?
If you do, bin it.
Cyber security outfit Bastille has exposed a security flaw in wireless keyboards created by 12 different companies. The company bought a broad range of wireless keyboards and then tested access to keystrokes via radio waves only to find that the keyboard encrypted none of the information typed by the user.
This breach in security allows someone with a $12 radio device to intercept your keystrokes from a 250-foot radius and also type keystrokes on our machines.
Bad news for people who play online poker.
One report from the BBC said the keyboards in question can’t be upgraded and should be replaced to remove the risk.
The top of the range keyboards use Bluetooth to send encrypted messages between keyboard and machine. Researchers at Bastille said they were amazed to find so many keyboards using non-Bluetooth methods that were cheaper.
If your keyboard is hijacked people can gain access to all of your personal data including passwords, security question answers, and all private data.
The technique they use to hijack the data is called Keysniffer. They plan to give a demonstration at the Defcon hacker conference in a fortnight’s time.
Buddhist Monk Loses $263,000 Playing Blackjack Mindlessly
Buddha once said you only lose what you cling to, but that’s not the case for Khang Nguyen Le. The 38-year old president and presiding monk at the Temple of the Vietnamese Buddhist Association of Southwest Louisiana lost $263,000 playing Blackjack.
It gets worse.
It wasn’t his.
It was Buddha’s.
Sort of.
Between the period Jan 2013 and August 2014 Le withdrew $263,000 from the temple’s bank accounts, via ATM, and blew the lost playing for $10,000 a session Blackjack at the L’Auberge Casino in Lake Charles.
Officials arrested Le in Sep 2014 at LaGuardia International Airport in New York City. On Monday, a judge sentenced him to 30-months behind bars after pleading guilty to wire fraud.
The delay in sentencing was due to the monk becoming confused as to why the were charging him with wire fraud (it was because he withdrew the money from the ATM), and he initially refused to plead guilty to stealing the money.
“My intent was never to steal money from the temple,” said Le.
“An idea that is developed and put into action is more important than an idea that exists only as an idea.” Said Buddha.
Le had been Prez of the temple since 2010 where he earned a monthly stipend of $1,000 and had access to all three of the temple’s bank accounts. He stepped down from his position in Oct 2014.
Once Le has served his sentence, he could be deported to Vietnam.
