'The battle is on' - Why Kenny Hallaert won’t stop grinding in 2025

It's been a career year for PokerStars Ambassador Kenny Hallaert. After winning well over $3 million already in 2025, including a fourth-place finish at the WSOP Main Event, you might assume he'd take some time off to enjoy his earnings.

Instead, he's showing no signs of slowing down, spurred on by some added incentive from a dramatic PS Live League leaderboard chase. 

Hallaert seems to find a way to consistently make deep runs in large-field MTTs. With an adaptable strategy and decades of experience, it's not by chance that he regularly rises to the top. 

Kenny Hallaert has enjoyed a banner year in 2025.

"I do perform well in these fields," he says. "I recently posted my stats on Twitter/X, and I was amazed at the results. My style of play really suits competing with the average player in these fields.

"If I try to play the same strategy in the high rollers, I would get demolished. I have a good feeling about what the population will do in certain spots. Obviously, there's some good run in there, too. Still, it doesn't feel like it's sustainable in the long term at this rate."

Even though he downplays the sustainability of this success, Hallaert has been doing this for over two decades.

"Experience helps," he says. "I started to play poker in 2004. I have over 20 years of experience at lots of live events all over the world. It definitely helps in my decision-making."

The positive side of variance

"Variance can be huge in poker," explains Hallaert. "When you play online, you can go for hundreds of tournaments on a downswing or on an upswing. Hundreds of tournaments in live poker can take multiple years. I'm on the positive side of the swing for sure.

"You can never know how good a live poker player truly is. There's not going to be enough sample to prove it. I once read that you need to play as many tournaments as there are entries in the tournament. In a 4,000-player field, you need to play 4,000 times to overcome that part of the game."

The positive side of the swing has led to Hallaert sitting in third place on the Belgian all-time money list, behind only Thomas Boivin and Davidi Kitai. At one point, Hallaert had a personal goal of topping that list, but things have changed. 

Thomas Boivin is Belgium's all-time money leader.

"There was motivation to be on the top, but not anymore now that Thomas [Boivin] plays the high rollers regularly," explains Hallaert. "Thomas is a very good friend. He plans to keep playing the high rollers, and he's still motivated. If I had won the WSOP Main Event, I would have passed him. I had the text message ready to send to him: 'Back to work.'

"He's playing six-figure buy-ins; it's impossible to keep up. I did recently take the first spot for the amount of cashes on the Belgian all-time list."

'The leaderboard keeps me motivated'

The PokerStars Live League has given Hallaert extra motivation to keep on the grind, and he currently sits in third place on the mid-tier leaderboard, which counts buy-ins from €1,000 to €4,999. 

PokerStars Live League mid-tier leaderboard

*As of October 10, 2025

"The leaderboard keeps me motivated, to the dismay of my fellow leaderboard grinders,' he says. "It's a fun challenge for me at the moment, and I have a deep love for the game.

"This was my best year ever. Does it motivate me to play more or less poker? I can't really say at the moment. A big score could have either effect. I don't know where I'll end up five years from now. Maybe I'll still be chasing leaderboards, or maybe I'm just watching live updates from the beach. Who knows?"

Hallaert had no intent of chasing leaderboards this year. It just happened. He's embraced the opportunity and is giving it his all.

"It wasn't really a goal at the beginning of the year," he says. "After EPT Monaco, all of a sudden, I was quite good in points. That kept me motivated to go for it. The battle is on.

"I'm third now, but Gerard [Cortes] and Bogdan [Ionescu] are quite a bit ahead, and they're really going for it as well. They're both going to play all the events at all the festivals. It will be up to the cards. I'm also learning some mixed games along the way, so at least that will come of it."

Hallaert is looking up at leader Gerard Cortes.

"Bogdan [Ionescu] jokingly criticized me: he said, 'Why are you grinding this event? You had such a good year.' I have a big passion for the game. I love poker and enjoy a challenge, and this one’s been fun to chase. I'm happy either way; as long as I can play cards, I'm a happy guy."

The future of the Live League leaderboards

The Live League leaderboards have been embraced by more than just Hallaert, as many others are joining him in the grind. With only a few festivals left this calendar year, the question is now: Will it be back in 2026?

"I have a little inside information," says Hallaert. "We are heavily considering bringing the PokerStars Live League leaderboard back again next year. Nothing is confirmed yet, but we are looking into it. We're gathering feedback, and so far, all the feedback has been positive. We might make small adaptations, but we are discussing all of the options."

Can Kenny Hallaert finish the job in 2025?

Before we get to 2026, Hallaert's game plan this year is clear. 

"I need to get points, make cashes, and make deep runs; that's the plan for the coming weeks and months. PS Open Manchester, EPT Prague, and PS Open Cannes are all around the corner, and they all count for the leaderboard."

^{Images courtesy of Manuel Kovsca/Danny Maxwell/Jules Pochy/Rational Intellectual Holdings Ltd.}