Maurice Hawkins won another Circuit ring at WSOPC Tunica on Monday night, extending the lead of the all-time ring winner for the second time in a week.
This time it was the $400 Double Stack Closer, a one-day event with 127 entries on the final day of the series. Hawkins beat them all for $10,473, his second five-figure win of the week after a $25K score for taking down the $400 Mini Main earlier in the series.
Printing money
Hawkins told social media last week that 'Printing money is what I do,' and he's done just that. The 23rd ring also brings in a Michael Jordan theme for any basketball fan, and Hawkins was well prepared for his post-win photo shoot. Hawkins also secured the series-long leaderboard win and a 2026 WSOP Main Event seat in the do-or-die scenario.
The undisputed Main Character of the WSOP Circuit is not without beefs around the poker world, and the last year has brought Hawkins a poker room fist fight and bad debt allegations on top of the avalanche of WSOPC accolades. But his Circuit dominance only seems to be gaining steam and increasing the gap ahead of second-place Ari Engel's 20 rings.
Engel started 2025 with the lead, back when it was just 18 rings. Hawkins was even by March after the controversial finish to the Baltimore Main Event, but Engel took the lead back just days later. It was tied again in April after Hawkins won the Tunica Monster Stack then he took down 20 & 21 in New Orleans to assume the current lead. Angel picked up his 20th in September to draw even and Daniel Lowery has joined the party with 19, but Hawkins keeps winning.
The Circuit now shifts to double-barreled action in Pompano Beach and then Cherokee. It's a good bet that Hawkins will make the trip to North Carolina, where he has won four of his rings at Cherokee, including the 2024 Main Event.
Lead image courtesy of Horseshoe Tunica.
