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"I am the Grand Master," said 45-year-old Maurice Hawkins after winning his 17th WSOPC ring with a straight flush. The win breaks a tie shared with Daniel Lowery to move Hawkins to second place on the all-time rings list, just one ring behind Ari Engel.
Hawkins won #17 against a field of 208 players in the brand-new 40/40/40 Grand Master tournament — an event for 40-year-olds that starts with 40,000 chips and plays 40-minute levels. He took home just over $16K for the win.
"It's nice to get there when you get out of line, it's nice to get there when you stay in line. It's just nice to get there," Hawkins said moments after his win. "It's nice to get a finish. To get the momentum going throughout this year, because I have a feeling that this year is going to be pretty big for me."
'I'm actually the only Grand Master'
"It's good fun and it excites me. I look forward to many, many, more spots where I can let people know who the real Grand Master is. As in, I just won the Grand Master tournament, so therefore I am the true Grand Master. I'm actually the only Grand Master, there's no other tournaments," Hawkins laughed.
Being one of the most decorated WSOPC players of all time, Hawkins' strategy has changed over the years to reflect the changing poker landscape. "I'm a mixture of everything. I pretty much study every type of style there is. From solvers and GTO, to exploitative, and a mixture just being a feel player. But at the end of the day, it is about understanding your opponent, dominating your opponent, and taking the right style against the opponent you're up against."
"You have to be a Grand Master of sorts," he joked. "It's not broken, so I don't fix it. But each one of my years I am improving and getting better and better. I've given up some leaks in life to just focus on my game because it's time to take this to the moon."
"I mean I am the GOAT, and not just the Circuit GOAT. People don't want to see me at the table, they don't want to see me at all and it doesn't matter what level they are on. I'm just happy to be able to wake up every day, feed my family, and play poker."
Next stop: Cherokee
Hawkins will now head to the Cherokee stop, where he will play a longer schedule than normal. "Usually I only go there for the later events. But since I win an event every time I go to Cherokee, I decided that I would go the entire week, so I'll be there on Wednesday. They got me for the whole 10-11 days."
Hawkins has also earned a seat into the 2025 WSOPC Tournament of Champions — a trip he is happy to make and will make no matter where the tournament is hosted.
"I liked it better when there was a points league and more people would chase points traveling around the world. I think they need to bring that back. It was really good for poker."
