PokerStars Ambassador and Irish Open High Roller winner Kenny Hallaert is chip leader once again as the WSOP Main Event heads into Day 8. The Belgian tournament director, who was a WSOP November Niner back in 2016, bagged up 63,600,000 chips yesterday, well ahead of his nearest rival.
There are now just 24 players left of the 9,735 entries registered for this year’s $10k buy-in WSOP Main Event. All the remaining players are guaranteed at least $360,000; the winner will get $10 million.
Hallaert started yesterday as chip leader thanks to a sensational hand on Day 6 when he knocked out two players in a three-way all-in for a 36.9 million chip pot. He kept up the lead throughout yesterday, eventually knocking out controversial British player Will Kassouf in 33rd place.
Back in April, Hallaert won one of the biggest cashes of his live poker career when he took down the €5k NLH High Roller 8-Max at the Irish Open. Hallaert outlasted a 147-entry field to win €140,674. His live tournament winnings now total nearly $6 million, but it’s his sixth-place finish in the 2016 WSOP Main Event – for $1,464,258 – which cemented his status as one of Europe’s most respected tournament professionals.
Hallaert is one of several well-known players still in the mix at the WSOP. Other notables include last woman standing Leo Margets, 2023 Monster Stack champion Braxton Dunaway, former professional snowboarder Jarod Minghini and American pro Tony Gregg.
