Age: 34

Chips at the WSOP main event final table: 43.325 million (4th out of 9)

*WSOP Cashes: 22

*WSOP Bracelets: 0

*WSOP Earnings: $367,855

*Total career tournament earnings: $1,317,350

*Total career tournament cashes: 80

* - All stats exclude the 2016 WSOP main event

With over 80 career cashes, including three titles, and over $2.3 million in career tournament earnings, Kenny Hallaert is one of the most experienced players at the 2016 World Series of Poker main event final table. Having played poker for over a decade, Hallaert adds the 2016 November Nine to his already impressive resume, which includes a sixth-place finish in the European Poker Tour (EPT) Deauville main event in 2011 and a fifth-place finish in the 2015 WSOP Colossus, the tournament with the largest live field in poker history.

Hallaert’s success in big field events can be attributed to his tireless work ethic -- and it also helps him keep things in order in his “real” job in the mostly thankless world of tournament directing.

“I have a full-time job as a tournament director,” said Hallaert, when asked if he considers himself a poker pro. “However, I do have a big passion for the game. Maybe I could be a full-time pro player, but for me, having a job allows me not to rely 100 percent on playing poker, and my job is still within the game.”

Entering the 2016 WSOP main event final table, the 34-year-old ranks third in career poker tournament earnings for his home country of Belgium. He’s just behind Pierre Neuville, who finished seventh in the 2015 WSOP main event, and Hallaert makes it back-to-back appearances for the relatively small European country.

“I think it is an amazing accomplishment for our country where we send relatively few players to the WSOP,” said Hallaert. “I am very proud of how well the Belgians did this summer, including a few final tables and a bracelet win by Michael Gathy.”

A win would net Hallaert the most coveted bracelet in poker and vault him to the top spot over three-time WSOP bracelet winner Davidi Kitai -- but Hallaert isn't really thinking about it.

“The money ranking is not interesting to me,” said Hallaert. “I want to play the final table optimally and represent my country as well as possible on the biggest stage of poker. And, of course, my dream is to win the main event.”

Hallaert got his start in the poker world back in 2004, like so many other players -- by playing online.

“I was always interested in card games,” said Hallaert. “One day, a banner for Unibet popped up online. I saw it was for poker, which seemed like a cool game. So I clicked on it, quickly read the rules for poker and started playing.”

At the beginning, the Belgian was just having fun, and by his own admission he “had no clue what he was doing.” He made several 20-euro deposits on a weekly basis online, and overall he was a losing player. During this time, he slowly began to realize that significant strategy and tactics are at the heart of playing poker. Thus, in February 2005, his interest in the game and competitive nature led him to learn more.

“I started studying a lot, bought some books, and read the 2+2 forums,” said Hallaert. “I decided not to play online, just study the game. After I started understanding the true basics of the game, I then also learned about the intricacies such as implied odds and fold equity.”

After a monthlong poker hiatus to do his due diligence and research, Hallaert felt he was ready to return to the virtual felt and made another deposit online in March 2005. This 50-euro deposit would be his last, as he earned 93 euros in his first month and has built his bankroll upward ever since.

During this time, the young Belgian worked as a factory electrician near his home, but he would regularly play online in the evenings and on weekends. As he became more and more passionate about poker, Hallaert continued to dedicate himself to studying the game. Playing in his first live tournament in December 2005, Hallaert appropriately cashed in the first-ever live tournament in Belgium, held at the Grand Casino de Namur, the biggest card room in Belgium. After this cash-in, he was excited to play in more live tournaments, even taking some vacation days to play.

As he played frequently at the Grand Casino de Namur, the personable Hallaert was approached by the casino in 2007 to work for them in marketing. Since he had lots of Flemish poker friends, Hallaert seemed like the perfect choice to recruit these players to the casino, which was located in the French-speaking part of Belgium.

So, on Feb. 1, 2008, Hallaert began working for the casino, which still employs him to this day. His role in marketing, however, was short-lived. Recognizing a need in the poker market, Hallaert suggested organizing a poker festival for the casino, which came to fruition in April 2009. In addition to setting up the event, he was the tournament director, and his role at the casino evolved into becoming the regular tournament director.

Ever since this initial festival, Hallaert has worked all over Belgium and Europe, serving as a floor person at some EPT events and leading the way as a tournament director for Unibet this summer. Some may think that, similarly to being a dealer, his role as tournament director would help improve his poker playing.

"I know I'm not the best poker player in the world, and I never win be," said Hallaert. "But I know that if I work hard, fully prepare, remain focused, and the cards fall a little my way, anything is possible. I know I could become the next world champion, but there are also eight other players who are thinking the same way." Kenny Hallaert

In fact, the opposite is true.

“Directing poker tournaments hasn’t helped me as a player, but being a player has helped me as a tournament director,” said Hallaert. “I can provide better customer service by understanding the perspective of the player, having played in so many tournaments.”

Although a lot of his time over the last eight years has been occupied by his full-time position, Hallaert still found time to play poker. He still had dreams for his playing career, such as playing in the WSOP, and Hallaert achieved a big milestone simply by playing the 2008 WSOP main event, thanks to a satellite win at his home casino.

“My dream was to be just sitting there and being a part of the WSOP,” said Hallaert. “I was fortunate to be playing in the main event at my first WSOP event because I qualified via satellite. Having started playing poker only four years earlier as a hobby, and now playing in the world championship of my favorite game, I felt truly blessed and very happy.”

On Jan. 18, 2009, Hallaert had a huge win online in the weekly PokerStars Sunday Warm-Up for over $100,000, besting a field of 4,180. Although this didn’t change his mind about becoming a full-time pro, the victory helped Hallaert believe in his game: “This win gave me a lot of confidence and a belief that great things are possible, and better things may come in the future.”

In the summer of 2009, Hallaert achieved another significant poker goal by cashing in his first bracelet event, finishing 191st in a $1,500 no-limit hold 'em event. In 2010, Hallaert cashed in an EPT main event for the first time at the EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo. He took the worst beat of his career with 37 players remaining; after comfortably making the money, he was devastatingly eliminated on a one-outer when his pocket aces lost to his opponent’s pocket kings after another opponent had folded A-K. This massive pot would have all but assured him a place at the final table, and while this moment could have shattered his psyche, Hallaert turned it into a positive that’s benefited him ever since.

“It was a horrible beat, but losing this pot, afterwards [it] gave me a lot of mental strength,” said Hallaert. “I knew that it could never be worse than this. This hand had a reverse reaction for me. I now know that things can happen in poker, whether good or bad, and have learned to accept it.”

After this significant cash, Hallaert continued to raise the bar with his poker goals. This time, he set his sights on cashing in the WSOP main event, which he achieved in 2012 when he finished in 323rd place. Although it wasn’t one of the largest scores of his career, it was definitely one of the most satisfying.

“I had played in the WSOP main event every year ever since my first in 2008,” said Hallaert. “It is definitely the greatest tournament in the world. To cash in this championship event was very satisfying to me after all my hard work.”

As Hallaert continued to achieve his poker goals, he set his sights even higher -- setting his sights on making a WSOP final table. Although he had six cashes in 2013 and 2014 at the WSOP, he was unable to come close to achieving this goal, but that would change the following year.

In 2015, he had a WSOP summer to remember. He kicked off his schedule with the inaugural Colossus event, and after playing optimally for four days, Hallaert suddenly found himself at the final table -- once again crossing off one of his poker goals.

“It was amazing. This was the biggest poker tournaments ever held, with over 22,000 entries,” said Hallaert. “I couldn’t believe that I had made this WSOP final table. It was an incredible experience.”

After that memorable performance in Colossus, Hallaert followed it up with another astonishing run on the other end of his summer in the 2015 WSOP main event. After making Day 5, Hallaert ended up finishing in 123rd place in a field of 6,480 players. Despite making such a deep run, he felt somewhat disheartened after this performance.

“I had decent chips throughout the whole tournament last year, but on Day 5 everything basically went wrong. I kept losing every pot I played and eventually got knocked out halfway through the day,” said Hallaert. “I was a little disappointed, because I had the feeling that this might have been my only chance to have a deep run in the WSOP main event.”

Hallaert’s fears couldn’t have been further from reality as he experienced some déjà vu during the 2016 WSOP main event. He had an incredible start; Hallaert doubled his stack in the first level, took the chip lead by the first dinner break, had a top-three stack after Day 1, and regained the chip lead again at the end of Day 3.

Then it seemed for a stretch that Hallaert was experiencing the wrong kind of déjà vu: Things started to go sideways during the same portion of the tournament that ended Hallaert’s run the year before.

“This year on Day 5 didn't start well again,” said Hallaert. “I lost a couple of big pots, and all of a sudden I was down to 10 big blinds, which was ironically around the same time I was knocked out last year. But all of a sudden I had a rush, and four hours later I went from 10 big blinds to chip leader.”

Without question, Hallaert was able to draw on his experience last year in this similar situation.

“I did use some experience from last year’s main event,” said Hallaert. “I’m someone who never gives up, never dwells on the past and always make the best of it. I was trying to make the most optimal decisions for myself and it certainly worked out.”

During Days 6 and 7, Hallaert tried to avoid trouble by playing small ball and steadily remained among the leaders, eventually securing a spot on poker's most coveted final table of the year as part of the November Nine.

“It's a surreal feeling that I made November Nine,” said Hallaert. “It’s something that you dream of, but it’s a dream that probably will never happen. But I did and it’s truly a unique experience. I’m actually living the dream.”

Although he is being celebrated as a member of the 2016 November Nine, Hallaert still has his day job and obligations to consider during the layoff in the tournament. In late August, he was tournament director of the Unibet Open in Copenhagen, Denmark, and he recently completed another assignment on Sunday at the Unibet Poker Belgium Championship in Blankenberge, Belgium. The four-day festival brought together hundreds of players across Belgium and the Netherlands, with over 400 players in the main event.

“Everyone had a great time -- lots of partying and relaxing for the players as the tournament was located right next to the beach,” said Hallaert. “For me, I was focused on bringing the best tournament possible for the players. As usual, a TD’s nights are short and tiring, but you can expect that. But now all my focus goes to preparing for the November Nine.”

Hallaert’s next goal in poker is to win a WSOP bracelet, but to win the WSOP main event is something he has almost never dreamed about. Entering this final table, Hallaert remains humble, but he has his eye on the ultimate prize in poker with just eight players standing in his way.

“I know I’m not the best poker player in the world, and I never will be,” said Hallaert. “But I know that if I work hard, fully prepare, remain focused, and the cards fall a little my way, anything is possible. I know I could become the next world champion, but there are also eight other players who are thinking the same way.”