The 2016 November Nine: In Their Own Words (Part 2)

Following on from Part 1, here are four more members of this year’s November Nine in their own words:
Kenny Hallaert (photo)

A 37 year-old Belgium pro with lifetime earnings of $1,714,610, with his previous biggest score coming in 2011 at the EPT Deauville Main Event after finishing in 6th place for a $210,962 payday:
“I was mentally exhausted. It’s a long day.. You have to be focused for seven days straight; 11 hours of play per day, it mentally hurts you at a certain point. Had I had to play today the adrenaline would make up for the tiredness, and it would have been the same for everybody. Maybe, I might have been one of the people who could handle the situation better because I play 12 hours sessions online.”
Michael Ruane
A 28 year-old New Jersey pro with just $44,962 in career earnings:
“I didn’t come out with enough clothes because I didn’t expect to get this deep in the Main Event.” When this year’s mystery man was asked to elaborate further about himself, he refused to even give the screen name he uses online, explaining, “Yeah, I’m trying to keep it that way. That’s the goal. It’s totally an advantage, so that’s why I’m not going to elaborate more on it.”
Vojtech Ruzicka
A 36 year-old Czech Republic pro with $1,149,027 in live earnings, including finishing 3rd at the 2013 EPT Deauville High Roller for $426,907:
“I had a crazy day six. In the last hour I knocked out two players. I got it in with top set against a gutter ball flush draw.. I got it, and after that I won a big flip, and I actually was the chip leader after day six.. I haven’t played with half of them [November Nine] at all, so I got a lot of work to do.
Griffin Benger
A 31 year-old pro from Canada with $1,386,295 in live earnings, with his biggest score coming after winning the 2013 EPT Berlin High Roller for $562,343:
“I wasn’t going to come play the Main Event unless I won a package, and I sort of decided last-minute to register to play the tournament because I find those satellite to be great. Check them out on 888poker. It all just worked out. I steam-rolled through the final three tables of the satellite and got there. Locked it up pretty easily.”
See the final part of this article here: “The 2016 November Nine: In Their Own Words (Part 3)”