Also, I'm just being cautious with the first game I'm doing like this. I'm not getting a million dollars. I could burn through this money fast and have nothing to show for it if I'm not careful. If I work with someone and the game does well enough, they'll get paid much better on the next title if we continue to work together. May not be the most ideal arrangement, but it's better than nothing.
You either take the risk and rewards or you don't. You can't have it both ways - you want to hire someone who is willing to work for dirt cheap so you don't risk your money, and yet you want to get the rewards if the game is a success. If you find anyone crazy enough to agree to that, then it won't turn out well.
Flameduck's rate is reasonable, if on the low side, for a pimped out contractor with an excellent skill set. There are a huge number of overheads to being a contractor, the most expensive one being time - depending on a number of factors, the generally accepted billing hour count is about 1000 a year (or 20 hours a week). Hours spent on personal skillset development and marketing aren't billable. Add in a few layers of pimps and billing out at $150 an hour is both common and not exceptionally lucrative.
Why he mentioned it here, though, I have no idea. It's not something particularly impressive, so I don't think he was trying to show off, and he'd be crazy to consider taking this deal, so...