Five of the Biggest Poker Winners From Missouri

Do you know Missouri and Tennessee share the record for being bordered by the most states? Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska all border Missouri.

The “Show Me State” has lax rules on alcohol, too, making it a favorite of ours. Having Anheuser-Busch, brewers of Budweiser, on your doorstep tends to make regulators give a little leeway to its residents. The top five poker players in Missouri have had plenty of reasons to enjoy a cold Bud. $14,646,939 in combined earnings is something to celebrate.

Grant Hinkle Tops the Missouri All-Time Money List

Grant Hinkle of Kansas City, Missouri, is the state’s biggest winner, courtesy of his $4,627,921 earnings. Hinkle has a trio of World Series of Poker Circuit rings, plus a WSOP bracelet to his name.

Hinkle won his bracelet in 2008 when he triumphed in a $2,000 No-Limit Hold’em event. He won $507,613 that day, which remained his biggest score for more than five years. August 22, 2013, is remembered fondly by the Missouri-based grinder. That is the day he won the $5,300 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open for a cool $1,745,245.

Many know Hinkle because of his ill-treatment by Full Tilt Poker, despite his obvious poker prowess. Hinkle won $640 FTOPS Main Event on February 20, 2011, for $1,162,949. Full Tilt Poker shut its doors soon after, leaving Hinkle’s seven-figure score in limbo. He got his hands on his money eventually, but his online poker experience left a sour taste in his mouth.

The Polarizing Maurice Hawkins

Maurice Hawkins lives in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, but grew up in St. Louis, Missouri. Hawkins was a promising football player and received a football scholarship. Injury curtailed any possible football career, however. Hawkins tore both hamstrings chasing and apprehending a gunman in his university dorm.

Hawkins turned to poker while he was recuperating, and it turned out to be an excellent decision. He now has $4,121,677 in live tournament winnings, helped by winning 14 WSOPC rings.

A WSOP bracelet still eludes Hawkins despite cashing 144 times in WSOP events. It is a matter of when not if Hawkins secures some poker gold.

Joshua Turner the Two Million Dollar Man

Joshua Turner of St. Louis, Missouri, has $2,184,543 in live winnings, placing him third in the state’s standings. The prolific Turner has 183 recorded live cashes, with four of those in-the-money finishes awarding six-figure sums.

The biggest of those prizes weighs in at $294,760. This was Turner’s reward for a third-place finish in the $1,000 Double Stack at the 2018 WSOP. He netted $128,183 for a runner-up finish in a $1,700 WSOPC event in Milwaukee in 2019.

You tend to find Turner grinding the low-to-mid stakes around the United States. He is one of many Americans hoping the WSOP takes place in Las Vegas this year.

Jason Mo the Bitcoin Investor

Jason Mo lives in St. Louis, Missouri, and loves cryptocurrency as much as playing poker. Mo splits opinions across the board. People either love him and his outspoken personality or despise him. You can make your minds up.

Mo is a well-known figure in Vegas cash game circles but has a penchant for high-stakes tournaments. Mo has only 18 recorded live cashes to his name, but they add up to $2,007,323!

A third-place finish in the $25,000 Mixed Max event at the 2014 WSOP bagged Mo $538,308. Six other scores weigh in at six-figures. Although he has never disclosed his Bitcoin holding, Mo is a prominent investor in cryptocurrency, probably why you do not see him grinding away in dozens of tournaments each year.

Pat Walsh the Cash Game Grinder

St Charles, Missouri, is where you find Pat Walsh. He has $1,717,395 in live tournament winnings but has not cashed in one since 2014.

Walsh prefers cash games despite his MTT prowess. Deep runs in the $10,000 buy-in Pot-Limit Hold’em and Limit Hold’em Championships in 2010 saw Walsh take a year-long hiatus. He returned to win a $1,300 Bounty Shootout in Los Angeles for $241,700.

Walsh disappeared from the tournament circuit until July 2014. His return saw him win the $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha event at the 2014 WSOP. It netted him $923,379 and a gold bracelet, and he has not cashed in a tournament since!

Matthew Pitt

If it’s something you can play online for real money, chances are Matthew knows a bit about it. He’s been writing about slots, craps and poker for the better part of the last decade. He’s written for PokerNews, PartyPoker and many other respected online gambling websites during the last nine years.

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