Maurice Hawkins recently won his 24th career World Series of Poker Circuit ring, taking down the first event at the Grand Victoria Casino in Elgin, Illinois.
Hawkins celebrated his record-extending win with a social media post of himself with the ring and the words, “Not a run. Not luck. This is what dominance looks like.”
But not everyone is celebrating his success. Hawkins has many detractors in the poker world, partly because of his aggressive trash talk and partly because of his reputation for not making good on his end of financial backing deals.
Shaun Deeb, currently in second place on the 2026 WSOP Player of the Year leaderboard, went in on Hawkins after his social media post, not only bringing up his financial dealings, but also denigrating Hawkins’ accomplishment.
“The run is what you do when previous backers come by,” Deeb taunted. “Luck is no one else cares about those events who is actually good at poker or else you’d be nowhere near the top.”
“Your biggest edge is being willing to win pots that you had a losing hand and knew and still taking the chips into your stack. Why don’t you use that $ and fly to Europe for some real accolades and competition,” Deeb added, referring to the WSOP Europe, which concludes on Sunday.
Daniel “Jungleman” Cates also had something to say:
“You know, if you made all your debts right and didn’t play the victim so much in spots where you’re quite in the wrong you could have a decent thing going. And no, ‘settling’ your debts on the account that you are too broke to do so (while also bragging of your success) is not full accountability.”
Hawkins replied, sniping back, “Bro why the fuck are talking about. Once again keep my name out of your mouth.”
Cates responded, focusing again on Hawkins’ history with backers: “Your name will be out when you are properly accountable for the people you scammed. Your anger will not buy my silence. As I said before, effort towards repayment and I will say nice things instead.”
Regardless of people’s opinions of Hawkins, he has certainly been one of the top dogs on the WSOP Circuit for years. Usually in first or second place on the all-time ring leaderboard, Hawkins has had a great run in the last year to create separation at the top.
Since February 2025, Hawkins has won eight WSOP Circuit rings to get his count up to 24, distancing himself from Daniel Lowery, who has 20. Rounding out the top five are Ari Engel with 18, Joshua Reichard with 16, and Valentin Vornicu with 14.