WALTER Fisher was on a heater.
Gambling lingo for a lucky streak, a “heater” is a run of unbridled fortune. From February until June 2016, the 36-year-old poker professional couldn’t lose.
“I hit the zone and just felt it,” he says. “I ran two grand up to $US97,000 ($123,000) at blackjack. I put up big numbers at poker.”
He accrued a six-figure windfall and the ride seemed endless — until it wasn’t. “I got overwhelmed and began playing over my head,” Fisher says.
In December, an opportunistic gambling acquaintance offered to bet Fisher $US100,000 ($126,000) that he could not reduce his body fat to less than 10 percent in six months. Desperate and hungry for change, Fisher booked the bet, tapping two high-stakes friends, Dan Bilzerian (the famous Instagram playboy) and Bill Perkins (a wealthy hedge fund manager who plays poker), for backing.
Before the month was out, more than $1 million in wagers had been lined up. The money was secured in an escrow account; half of it, in excess of $US500,000 ($634,000), was earmarked for Fisher if he could break the 10 per cent body-fat mark. Winning would wipe out his debt and replenish his bankroll.
He started dieting and exercising but quickly realized he couldn’t do it alone. On Fisher’s behalf, a friend reached out to personal trainer Chris DiVecchio.
DiVecchio, the owner of Premier Mind & Body in Los Angeles, got involved for an upfront fee and a cut of the back end.
Although Fisher thought his body fat was 25 percent when he made the bet, it actually measured 33 per cent.
Even worse, “he had no athletic ability or training,” says DiVecchio. “I had to get him sweating and comfortable with feeling sore as hell.”
Fisher began an intense daily workout regimen.
“We started with 30 minutes of high-intensity interval training and an hour of weights, seven days per week,” says Fisher.
“Then we went to 45-minutes of cardio and two hours of high-intensity interval training, plus weights. I ate oatmeal and egg whites for breakfast. I soon put in 10 hours a day, with five hours of cardio. I drank amino acids and glutamine to keep my muscles from breaking down.”
People who had bet against Fisher proclaimed that he had no shot. One guy flatly said, “You’ll probably look better at the end of all this, but there is no way in hell you’ll win the money.” Fisher did his best to ignore them.
“The money kept him going,” says DiVecchio, who put Fisher through various grueling workouts.
“I had him swinging with a weighted hammer; that pushed his heart rate up while working his core. There was boxing, workouts with a medicine ball, cycling, rowing, weights.”