Maurice Hawkins Wins 18th WSOP Circuit Ring After Misread Hands Him Victory

The controversial poker player Maurice Hawkins has long been a player who divides opinion. From allegations of failure to repay debts to other concerns, players across America have previously reacted with chagrin to his success rather than the expected congratulations. However, this week, even the hardiest Hawkins fan might have baulked at how their man won his 18^th and record-tying Circuit ring.

How Did the Maryland Main Event Miss It?

On Tuesday morning, reports from the Maryland Main Event filtered through to fans and with it, an image of a losing hand that was no such thing. Originally reported via Poker.Org, the hand in question in the WSOP-C event was between Divyam Satyarthi and the WSOP legend Maurice Hawkins.

According to the popular live poker reporter Jeff McMillan, Satyarthi was all in with queen-ten with the queen in clubs against Hawkins’ ace-three with no clubs at all. The board played out K-2-T-4-5 and with players initially focusing on the ‘wheel straight’ of A-2-3-4-5 made by Hawkins, Satyarthi’s hand was overlooked. It was turned over, however, and with photographic evidence making it to X.com, players and poker fans alike reacted in horror.

The first question was how the three players still in the tournament (including the eventual runner-up Dan Chalifour) and the dealer at the time could have missed it. While that is clearly an important question, it beggars belief that as the river card was about to be dealt, there was no discussion at the table around a club coming to complete Satyarthi’s flush.

Instead, the pot was given to Hawkins, Satyarthi busted in third place for $64,458 and a shrot time later, Hawkins had claimed his 18^th WSOP Circuit ring and the top prize of $140,752.

The $84,000 Mistake

“The wheel was deemed the winner and Hawkins given the pot.”

At the time, no-one noticed the mistake, including all three players, the dealer of the hand and Poker.Org’s reporter Jeff McMillan. Satyarthi’s loss was Maurice Hawkins’ huge gain – with $84,000 in prize money between third place and first in the event. Obviously, had Satyarthi doubled up in the hand, anything could have happened thereafter, with any change in stacks potentially a complete game-changer to the eventual narrative.

“Nobody noticed the flush in the moment,” said McMillan on X.com. “It was a confusing moment where the third-place finisher thought his pair held at first until the wheel was deemed the winner and Hawkins given the pot.”

A few hours later, the mistake was highlighted and the live reporting of the hand was removed from the updates, but the damage had been done. Hawkins had won the event for $140,752 and had his latest – and most controversial – WSOP Circuit ring. Video of the hand was shown to tournament staff by reporters but after the event. The prestigious $1,700 buy-in Main Event at Horseshoe Baltimore in Maryland had a total of 468 entries and the prize pool of $709,020 was one of its biggest. The fact that a huge part of that prizepool was wrongly awarded is embarrassing for all concerned.

Should Reporters Have Informed Tournament Staff Earlier?

“The reporter reports the action, does not become part of the action.”

While McMillan missed the mistake in question – along with the dealer and at least one of the three players at the felt in Satyarthi, did Chalifour or Hawkins know and not say anything? We can only speculate. That’s not the subject that has come up, however, with one poker professional DJ Mackinnon asking: “A poker media member is observing a hand being played in an event. The media member sees the dealer misread the winning hand and the pot is pushed incorrectly, with no other participants at the table noticing the mistake. Should the media member inform the table of the mistake?”

Excepting the point worth repeating that McMillan wasn’t aware of the mistake, to say the responses were mixed would be a misread in itself. Many agreed with the Global Poker Award-winning Best Journalist of 2024, Brad Willis, who said: “Absolutely not, under no circumstances, never.”

GPA-nominated Tournament Director Matt Savage had a different view, replying: “Not only the media but literally anyone that [sees] the pot going the wrong way.”

WSOP Main Event commentator Norman Chad was unequivocal in disagreeing with Savage.

“Matt, the media is there to report the action, not be a part of the action. The NBA press box used to be courtside. If an NBA reporter is the only person in the arena to see a flagrant foul occur, should he or she step onto the court and demand the officials review it? The reporter reports the action, does not become part of the action. Case closed. Same in poker.”

Savage didn’t take the same viewpoint, but Chad went further in explaining the issue with reporters interfering with the narrative themselves.

“What about the slippery slope the media now would occupy?” he asked. “Dealer and player abuse is not tolerated and can be penalized. If a player is out of line but no action is taken, is it upon the reporter to let the floor director know in order to make a ruling?”

Fellow pro Bryan Devonshire took another stance, saying, “Cards on their back read, regardless of who reads them. On Thursday in El Paso, a massage therapist called out a winning hand of half a PLO bomb pot during the next hand of NLHE. Club paused the game, went to the cameras, and correctly awarded half the pot. Everybody approved.”

Brad Willis broke down in more detail exactly how slippery that slope Chad mentioned might get here, while the double WSOP bracelet winner Barny Boatman saw a world of problems from reporters getting involved in rulings.

Maurice Hawkins seems to court controversy whenever he plays in a major event but this time, the scandal was not of his control. The fallout rages on.