Maurice Hawkins Becomes a 9 Times WSOPC Winner

Maurice Hawkins has tied with Alex Masek for the most World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOPC) rings won in the popular tour’s 13-year history, after taking down a $365 WSOPC West Palm Beach event for $13,527. The 37-year-old pro, who originally hails from St. Louis, now boasts a total of 9 gold rings, and commenting after his record-breaking success, stated:
“Poker’s tough. Name one poker player that hasn’t been depressed. Because it’s tough. You have unreal expectations to win a tournament. You go city to city away from your family [but] to get a win is satisfying. It just makes for that good feeling again, and that’s what it’s all about.”
At the seat of his latest victory in Florida, Hawkins overcame a field of 167 players, including Waller Everitt heads-up, to claim his ninth ring. While Alex Masek also has the same tally, Hawkins’ results are more spectacular as his record includes $1,042,917 in WSOPC winnings, and 3 Main Event titles, whereas Alex Masek has earned $640,349 on the circuit, and has yet to take down one of its main events.
As well as being a skilled player, Maurice Hawkins is a fierce competitor at the poker tables, which some people have interpreted as being signs of his aloofness and arrogance. However, Hawkins said that he was not perturbed by the opinions of most people, whom he generically described as “pompous assholes”, explaining:
“People didn’t like Barkley on the court. People didn’t like Dennis Rodman on the court. I’m not here to be your friend on the felt. Now if I catch you at a bar, it’ll be a different scenario, you know? Where I’m from, your results speak for themselves. You don’t have to tell me how great you are. All you gotta do is pull up the results and see who wins.”
Including his WSOPC results, Hawkins has now earned $2,383,549 playing live tournaments since 2005, with his biggest score coming in 2016 after winning the WSOPC $1,675 Cherokee Main Event for $279,722. The last three years have also produced his three biggest winning years to date, having amassed $464,093 in 2014, followed by $449,975 in 2015, and $581,685 in 2016.