Maurice Hawkins Extends WSOP Circuit Record with 14th Ring Win

  • Defeated seven-time ring winner Andy Robinson heads-up for title at Choctaw Durant
  • Hawkins is WSOP Circuit record holder for rings and prize money, third in total cashes
  • Victory marks first WSOP Circuit win since May 2019, biggest cash since August 2019
Maurice Hawkins at a poker event
Maurice Hawkins won his 14th career WSOP Circuit ring Monday at Choctaw Durant. [Image: flickr.com]

Hawkins dominates the final table

Maurice Hawkins won the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Circuit Choctaw Durant Ring Event #5: $400 No-Limit Hold’em on Monday, defeating 217 opponents for the $16,898 first prize. In doing so, he captured his 14th career WSOP Circuit gold ring, adding to the Circuit record he already held.

Hawkins was the overwhelming chip leader going into the nine-handed final table. He had 1.160 million chips, while second-place Andy Robinson had just 440,000. None of the other seven players had more than 300,000 chips.

The tournament came down to Hawkins and seven-time Circuit winner Robinson. Though Robinson did have enough chips to make himself dangerous, he eventually succumbed to the all-time champ when Hawkins’ A-K dominated his A-Q on the final hand.

Owns the WSOP Circuit record books

Hawkins is the all-time leader or in the top three in three major WSOP Circuit categories. He already had the most rings in WSOP Circuit history going into this year. His 14th ring now puts him two ahead of the tandem of Valentin Vornicu and Joshua Reichard. They are the only other players with double-digit rings.

far and away the leader in lifetime WSOP Circuit earnings

Maurice Hawkins is also far and away the leader in lifetime WSOP Circuit earnings, now with $1,968,839. Three other players have more than $1,000,000, led by Chris “Jesus” Ferguson with $1,362,090.

Where Hawkins does not sit atop the rankings is in total Circuit cashes. With two cashes at Choctaw Durant, including Monday’s victory, he has now passed Charles Moore on the all-time list. His 107 lifetime Circuit cashes ranks him third behind Douglas Carli (148) and Christopher Conrad (112). Hawkins dwarfs them in the other two categories; Carli has three rings and $705,766 in Circuit earnings, while Conrad has two rings and $570,222 in earnings.

Looking to get on a roll in 2020

This was Maurice Hawkins’s first WSOP Circuit gold ring triumph since May 2019, when he won Event #8: $400 No-Limit Hold’em Monster Stack at Horseshoe Tunica for his 13th and tie-breaking ring. His best ring-winning stretch was 2015-2017, when he won three rings in each of two Circuit seasons.

Since that victory at Tunica, Hawkins has what one might consider two sizable cashes. He finished third in the 2019 WSOP Circuit Global Casino Championship for $119,555 and second in the WSOP Circuit Foxwoods Main Event for $88,557, both in August. All the rest of his cashes since Foxwoods have been for just three or four figures.

Feel like I got my mojo back.”

Feels good. Feel like I got my mojo back,” Hawkins admitted to WSOP.com after his Choctaw Durant win Monday night. “Feels good to know that the beginning of the year is going to end like it should, which means, that when you start the year off winning, it only can get better. It’s time to go up.”

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