Back in April, Maurice Hawkins became the first player in World Series of Poker Circuit history to win back-to-back Main Events. Last weekend, he once again made history in his hometown of West Palm Beach, Florida when he topped a field of 261 entrants to win the WSOP Circuit Palm Beach Kennel Club Main Event for $95,921, his third Main Event title in 2016, and his eighth overall gold ring.
Putting His Accomplishment in Perspective
Along with Blair Hinkle and Chris Ferguson, Hawkins is now one of only three players to win three WSOP Circuit Main Event titles. However, while it took Ferguson two and a half years to win his titles, and Hinkle four years, it’s only taken Hawkins eight months.
By winning his eighth gold ring, Hawkins is now tied with Chris Reslock, Valentin Vornicu, and Ari Engel for second all-time. Alex Masek currently leads that race with nine rings.
The win marked Hawkins’ fourth ring of the year, but the first of the new season, which began after the 2016 World Series of Poker in Las Vegas. In addition, the prize money pushed Hawkins’ career Circuit earnings to $1,011,946, making him only the second player (Ferguson was the first to do it) in Circuit history to reach seven-figure territory.
Finally, the win awarded Hawkins a seat into the Global Casino Championship for the second straight year. Remember, all WSOP Circuit Main Event earn a seat into the $1 million guaranteed bracelet event.
Final Table Results
1 Maurice Hawkins (West Palm Beach, FL) $95,921
2 Khoan Ho (Jonesboro, GA) $59,265
3 Josh Hillock (Coconut Creek, FL) $42,818
4 Lacy Wills (Port St Lucie, FL) $31,512
5 Filipp Khavin (Saint Petersburg, FL) $23,607
6 Ryan Chase (Lake Park, FL) $17,989
7 TJ Schulman (Boynton Beach, FL) $13,937
8 Jason Bullock (Baton Rouge, LA) $10,974
9 Bryan Rosen (Fort Lauderdale, FL) $8,777
Matt Wright and T.J. Shulman Among Other Big Winners
Over the course of the WSOP Circuit PBKC’s dozen ring events, no player did better than Matthew Wright, who earned the title Casino Champion. Wright cashed four times and final tabled three events, including a win in Event #1 $365 No-Limit Hold’em Monster Stack for $22,705. For his performance, Wright was also awarded a seat into the season-ending 2017 WSOP Global Casino Championship.
Another player to do quite well was T.J. Shulman, who won his first gold ring by taking down Event #8 $580 Double Stack NLHE for $25,092. He then went on to final table the Main Event, ultimately finishing in seventh place for $13,973.
Here’s a look at all those who won rings at the latest WSOP Circuit PBKC:
EVENT #1 $365 NLHE Monster/Matthew Wright defeats 322 players for $22,705
EVENT #2 $365 NLHE Re-Entry/Carlos Loving defeats 855 players for $50,017
EVENT #3 $365 NLHE/Eddie Salaga defeats 92 players for $8,210
EVENT #4 $365 NLHE/Steven Bennett defeat 109 players for $9,810
EVENT #5 $365 PLO/Tim Seidensticker defeats 129 players for $10,838
EVENT #6 $365 NLHE 6 max/Michael LaRocca defeats 168 players for $14,113
EVENT #7 $365 NLHE/Bob Beck defeats 60 players for $6,750
EVENT #8 $580 Double Stack NLHE/TJ Shulman defeats 193 players for $25,092
EVENT #9 $1,125 NLHE/Brett Bader defeats 47 players for $17,625
EVENT #10 $1,675 Main Event/Maurice Hawkins defeats 261 players for $95,921
EVENT #11 $365 NLHE/Roongak Griffeth defeats 73 players for $7,446
EVENT #12 $365 NLHE TURBO/Glenn Casteel wins for $7,344
The WSOP Circuit’s current stop kicked off on Thanksgiving and will run through December 5 at Harrah’s Cherokee in North Carolina.
