A round of controversy has emerged around Maurice Hawkins' record-tying victory in the World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOPC) Main Event in Baltimore after it was discovered that Divyam Satyarthi had the best hand when he was busted in third place.
The hand, which was documented on PokerOrg's Instant Live feed, happened on the road to Hawkins' 18th WSOP Circuit ring — a feat that tied him with Ari Engel at the top of the all-time list.
The play-by-play
Satyarthi had jammed from the small blind with 
and Hawkins called from the big blind with 
. The board ran out 
, leaving Satyarthi with a pair of tens and Hawkins in need of a non-club five to make a wheel. The river was a 
and Satyarthi had a flush, but the pot was awarded to Hawkins for an apparent wheel.
"Nobody noticed the flush in the moment," PokerOrg reporter Jeff McMillan said on X. "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 (was) given the pot."
Raw video of the elimination shows both hands and the full runout:
Reporters brought the video to floor staff when the error was found, but it was too late to rectify the situation. The hand would have left Satyarthi with more than 2 million chips, trailing Hawkins and runner-up Dan Chalifour — both with around eight million with blinds at 40K/80K/80K. The third-place finisher settled for $64,458 instead.
