Kenny Hallaert: The BPC must wait until the WSOP is done

You can have forgiven Kenny Hallaert if he had decided to skip the arena Series of Poker in Las Vegas this year. Hallaert is a hectic man. Back in his native Belgium, he manages the Belgian Poker Challenge (BPC), a two-stop tour that visits the PokerStars card room on the Grand Casino de Namur in addition to a second tournament in Spa. It's sponsored by the largest online cardroom at the planet.

The latest BPC event wrapped in Spa in the beginning of June, just because the World Series was getting started. The following is due for just after the November Nine plays out--assuming Hallaert ever returns to his day job.

Sitting today on the table behind a 1.6 million stack of chips, Hallaert admitted that he hasn't yet finalised the schedule for the most recent event, because of start in Namur on November 25. He's forgoing his paperwork for a tilt on the $8 million first prize here--and who could blame him. Returning to the Amazon Room today, Hallaert was the tournament chip leader of 800 left.

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He is now now not on the top of the pack, although remains just about it in additional ways than one. His stack continues to be top 20, but his neighbour Maria Ho became the primary within the room to wreck the two million chip mark. She still has the second-largest pile of anyone.

Even before he started managing the BPC, Hallaert was widely known in European poker rooms. He has final table appearances at the European Poker Tour, the Master Classics of Poker and the UKIPT under his belt. And he has made an enormous success of the BPC. In 2014 in Namur, Hallaert's home casino, 683 runners created a €654,309 prize pool; in 2015, 680 contested €652,800. They're the largest tournaments ever held within the country.

Remarkably enough, both tournaments were won by the similar man: Arne Coulier, who added €101,075 to €113,820 in consecutive years. "Satellites on PokerStars!" Hallaert said as he filled us in at the details of the event, encouraging everyone to sign up for the charge to Belgium.

Online poker is regulated within the country and has gone from strength to strength since legislation, boosted by Pierre Neuville becoming the primary Belgian to make the WSOP Main Event final table this time last year. Triple Crown winner Davidi Kitai leads the country's money list, but Hallaert would leapfrog him if he finishes within the top three on this tournament.

If that was the case, and Hallaert was returning to Namur after playing the November Nine, it could surely be where to be within the run-up to EPT Prague. Because the man says, "Satellites on PokerStars!"

WSOP photos by PokerPhotoArchive.com.

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