Maurice Hawkins wins the gold ring of the record-breaking 15th World Series of Poker circuit

Maurice Hawkins sat alone atop the World Series of Poker circuit ranking titles for more than three years after winning his record fourteenth WSOPC extension gold ring in a $400 buy-in event in 2020 WSOPC extension Choctaws series. On April 17, 2023, Josh Reichard shot down the WSOPC extension Grand Victoria casino main event to secure his record-breaking 14th ring.

Reichard and Hawkins ended up being tied for less than a month, as Hawkins managed to set a new record by winning his 15th ring on May 15th. The Florida resident defeated a 92-entry field in the WSOPC extension Harrah’s Cherokee $2,200 no-limit hold’em high roller to secure the hardware and $54,599 first prize.

Reichard made a comment to WSOP Circuit after his recent win to tie Hawkins which seemed to downplay the run for the rings:

“To be honest, I’m not much into records, but this is pretty cool… On [the WSOP’s] website, there are pictures of all the record holders and Phil Hellmuth holds the bracelet title, and I thought it would be nice if my picture was next to his because we are two guys from Wisconsin. I’m sure Maurice’s (Hawkins) photo will stay there at the moment, but it keeps me motivated to get there someday.

“Put some respect on my name! I’m Maurice Hawkins, that’s who I am. if you’re going to call me, go ahead and say so. I’m not a fan of the passive aggressive mock humble act, acting like you don’t care about the numbers when you clearly do,” Hawkins said after regaining the lead, evidently in response to Reichard’s comments.

Hawkins now has more than $2.2 million WSOP Circuit earnings, the most of any player on that tour. His closest competitor in that category is Daniel Lowery, who recently won his 13th ring. Lowery recorded $1,499,471 WSOPC extension earnings.

This win also marked Hawkins’ 142nd award in a WSOPC extension event, putting him tied for sixth place with Ian Steinman on the all-time scoring list for the tour.

Hawkins weathered a tough final table en route to his career-high win, with bracelet winner Will Givens finishing seventh ($6,877) and Poker World Tour champion Dylan Wilkerson placed sixth ($8,893). 2022 WSOP $3,000 no-limit hold’em event runner-up Toby Boas (2nd – $33,744) moved all in with pocket kings against Hawkins’ pocket tens for the title, but 9-7-2- J-8 runout gave Hawkins a jack-high straight to win the pot and the title.

Here is a look at the winnings awarded at the final table:

Winning photo credit: WSOP.