Maurice Hawkins Wins at Choctaw to Push Ring Record to 26

The gap at the top of the WSOP Circuit standings is beginning to look less like a lead and more like a private head start.

Maurice Hawkins secured his 26th Circuit ring by winning the $1,100 Mini Main Event at Choctaw for $76,380. The tournament drew 400 entries and ended with Hawkins overcoming Brian Green heads-up after falling to only six big blinds.

The victory gives Hawkins five WSOPC titles in 2026 and increases his advantage over Ari Engel and Daniel Lowery to six rings.

Hawkins did not reach No. 26 by navigating an anonymous final table. His last three opponents were Engel, recent WSOP Main Event deep runner Will Givens and eventual runner-up Green.

Engel had the first opportunity to close the record gap but was eliminated in fourth, earning $25,170. Givens followed in third for $35,450, adding another result to the $325,000 he earned by placing 19th in the 2026 WSOP Main Event.

Their departures set up a heads-up match between Hawkins and Green. Green moved into a strong position and reduced Hawkins to a six-big-blind stack, but the Circuit’s most prolific winner recovered to claim the title. Green took home $50,900.

After the victory, Hawkins described his current run by saying: 

I’ve got the recipe.

He explained that he had identified adjustments in both his own game and the tendencies of his opponents, which he was now applying across Circuit stops.

The confidence is backed by a steady stream of results. His 2026 ring victories have come at Tunica, Grand Victoria, Cherokee and Choctaw:

The Choctaw result also carried 720 Card Player Player of the Year points, lifting Hawkins to 4,512 points and 12th in the 2026 standings at the time. He had recorded 15 POY-qualified final tables, fewer only than Brandon Wilson’s 18 and level with Punnat Punsri for second-most.

Hawkins’ return to the WSOP Circuit followed two of the largest results of his summer in Las Vegas, although neither produced the bracelet that remains absent from his résumé.

He finished runner-up to Brent Gregory in the $600 mixed no-limit hold’em and pot-limit Omaha event. The final table also featured Daniel Negreanu and Alex Foxen, but Hawkins ultimately missed what would have been his first WSOP bracelet. 

Later in the series, he placed fourth in the $3,000 Mid-Stakes Championship, earning $432,875. That result remains his largest recorded live cash and helped move his career earnings beyond $7.7 million.

His tournament success has unfolded alongside financial problems away from poker. Hawkins filed for bankruptcy in the spring, shortly after collecting his 24th ring, before winning No. 25 at Cherokee and No. 26 at Choctaw.