Daily Rewind - Betfair security breach, new Hellmuth app and PokerStars offer

In this edition of The Daily Rewind we take a look at latest situtation at Befair, assess the odds with Phil Hellmuth's latest venture and size up PokerStars' latest challenge. All that plus a look at how the poker world's virtual champions have performed at the felt this week.

Betfair Breach

Betfair are undoubtedly the world’s largest and most impressive betting exchange but it’s transpired that not even they are immune from cyber criminals. Despite having some of the most sophisticated security software in place, the company still couldn’t prevent hackers, believed to originate from Cambodia, from breaking into Betfair’s database and stealing the details of some of their users.

The attack happened in March 2010 but it’s only now that the situation has come to light. Although the hackers obtained a large amount of card details, they didn’t manage to get hold of any CVV2/CVC numbers which means that the risk of fraud is significantly reduced.

Indeed, Betfair have stressed that the data taken by the criminals is “unusable for fraudulent activity” and that “there was no risk to customers.” Betfair have since taken remedial steps to improve their security and are now, once again, one of the safest gambling sites in the world.

At Odds with Phil Hellmuth

He once claimed plucky amateur Jim Pitman was unable to spell poker, but now it seems Phil Hellmuth has moved on from his efforts to improve the poker fraternity’s literary skills and focus on improving their math skills. The self-styled “poker brat” has entered the world of downloadable apps by releasing the Phil Hellmuth Poker Calculator.

The software is currently on offer at $1.99 and features the ability to evaluate your hand against the range of your opponent, as well as some sage words from the man himself. The series of video clips presented by Mr. Hellmuth are designed to give aspiring players some handy tips on how to determine the odds in a variety of situations.

While the material on offer won’t hold much value for the more experienced player, it will give the budding star something to ponder while they’re at the table. Never one to miss an opportunity to promote himself, Phil has also incorporated a link to some of his Poker Zen merchandise, so you can look as good as the Poker Brat when you’re studying the odds.

As poker apps go this one won’t revolutionise the game but it will give you a neat way to analyse a variety of situations whilst you’re at the table. 

Bring It Online

They are some of the brightest and most feared virtual warriors in the world and now they are challenging you to “bring it on.” PokerStars’ Team Online, made up of players such as Randy “nanonoko” Lew, Anders “Donald” Berg and Shane “Shaniac” Schleger, are putting their reputations on the line in a regular series of freerolls starting this Sunday on PokerStars.

For those able to make a real money deposit, there is a $1,000 Team Online freeroll and for those who create a free money account there are $100 freerolls available. Each online legend will have a bounty on their head so if you can mix it with the best you’ll be in line for some free cash.

For more information on the tournaments you can visit the PokerStars Blog.

High Stakes Corner

In the wake of Black Friday the high stakes action may have taken a dip but that hasn’t stopped Brian “$tinger 88” Hastings, “socutiesf” and Phil “MrSweets28” Galfond, booking bountiful weeks at the virtual felt. Hauling in the biggest pile of cash was Brian Hastings who added another $365,874 to his ever bourgeoning roll. “socutiesf” was the second biggest winner this week netting an impressive $350,150, just ahead of Galfond who scooped $292,754 in 17,891 hands.

While the likes of Galfond and Hastings were sipping champagne, a strong black coffee was the order of the day for Andreas “Skjervøy” Torbergsen and Ilari “Ilari FIN” Sahamies. For Andreas things went bad very quickly as he managed to drop $235,868 in just 4,219 hands.

Things were almost as bad for Sahamies as he hit a downswing worth $196,660. However, things haven’t been all bad for the feisty Finn this month as he still banked almost $1 million making him one of the biggest high stakes winners in September.

Hot Shot of the Day

Kimberly Lansing... no further words needed!