Arguably one of the most accomplished players that made it to Day Six of the 2014 World Series of Poker Main Event was Brian Stinger885 Hastings. The then-26-year-old from Hanover Township, Pennsylvania had been able to build a career out of the online poker world while dabbling in the live tournament poker scene since 2008. Hastings exited the 2014 Main Event in 64th place for $103,000.

One of the founders of CardRunners, at one time one of the top poker training sites in the industry, Hastings was known for his abilities in high-stakes heads-up cash games. After starting online play in 2006, Hastings would take on many of the top names in live and online poker on the virtual felt. Most notable of his battles there was the 2009 clash against Viktor “Isildur1” Blom, whom Hastings was able to best to the tune of $5.6 million over two sessions of online play.

Hastings would earn his first live tournament cash in 2008 and then would take some time off for college before returning in 2011. He would win a World Poker Tour Regional tournament in Florida and, in 2012, earned his first WSOP bracelet in the $10,000 No Limit Hold’em Heads-Up World Championship event, earning his largest career score of $371,498 in the process.

Although his $1.15 million in winnings might seem a bit paltry for someone with his time in the game, Hastings has used a balanced lifestyle, keeping poker in perspective and having other outlets, that not only has helped his live game, but his online one also.

Arguably, Hastings had a fairly easy opening table draw for Day Six of the 2014 Main Event. The only notable names among his tablemates was Andrey ZayaZaichenko (3.565 million), but Hastings had to gain some ground on table leader Jason Weber‘s 4.13 million chip stack. Hastings should have been well prepared for these battles as he attempted to make a career-defining moment in the WSOP Main Event.