The one and only Maurice Hawkins did what he does best as he took down his 17th career WSOP Circuit ring, which puts him in sole possession of second place on the all-time ring leaderboard. His most recent ring was won in his home state of Florida at the WSOP Circuit series in Pompano Beach.
The series was nearly over but, as Hawkins has done before, he swooped in during the final moments to capture the ring in Event #15: $400 40/40/40 Grand Master Tournament, topping the 208-player field.
While the amount of money won was not much for a tournament win ($16,137), the important thing for Hawkins was, as it has always been, the ring itself.
WSOPC Ring Chase
The WSOP Circuit ring chase has been heating up over the last couple of years, including a few spicy moments between the main contenders.
Hawkins had a brief beef with fellow ring chaser Josh Reichard of Wisconsin, who now trails Hawkins by two rings with 15 of them. The two have since buried the hatchet and let their poker do the talking, usually at different events across the country. Reichard also isn’t as keen on the ring chase, as he has a beef of his own with the WSOP Circuit.
Then, there is Daniel Lowery of Arkansas, who has 16 rings and is a serious Circuit threat in his own right. Hawkins broke the tie with him in Pompano Beach to go into second place all by himself.
But all of them continue to look up at Ari Engel, who holds the lead with 18 rings. Engel is a big online player as well, playing on many of the best online poker sites in the US. His lead is greatly boosted by his propensity to win small-field online ring events, a fact that has led to a bit of recent debate.
Maurice Hawkins Career and Controversy
Hawkins has long been a prominent figure on the WSOP circuit and has been a controversial figure for quite some time. Considered an abrasive personality, he is always very talkative at the table and interactive with his opponents.
The main controversy surrounding Hawkins has been the accusations that he has stiffed backers and not paid them back, despite his many wins. You will often see comments alluding to this whenever a poker media outlet makes a post about him on their social media.
Despite these accusations, they seem to not follow him into the poker room itself as he continues to regularly play and is often chummy with other players. He is never challenged directly the same way in person that he is online.
On the felt, Hawkins’ career has been a prominent example of a player with sound poker tournament strategy. That is clearly shown by his 17 rings and over $6 million in career earnings, $3.9 million of that has come in WSOP events.
The rings that Hawkins has won have been achieved over the span of 17 years, with his very first one coming in 2008 at Harrah’s Atlantic City.
2016 ended up being his breakout year, as Hawkins won four rings to double his career total and put him immediately into the conversation of Circuit legends. He has since added at least one every year from 2017-2025, outside of a two-year hiatus in 2021 and 2022.
There are no signs of him slowing down, as Hawkins is immediately off to Cherokee, which is no doubt one of the top WSOP Circuit destinations out there.
He will be there for two weeks in February to play in what has historically been his strongest WSOP Circuit stop, with two Main Event wins in the mountains of North Carolina.