Father HawkinsMaurice Hawkins took a break from the Borgata Spring Poker Open and flew home to be with his eight month pregnant wife Aprelle, in Hollywood, FL. Little did he know he'd be returning to Atlantic City as a father, again.
"I was just going for a two day visit and she went into labor early," says Hawkins, who's daughter Harmony was born April 17th, exactly one month early. "Everything worked out," he says of his 4 lbs.-14 oz., 17 1/2" daughter.
Hawkins is back at Borgata playing in the $1,500 and looking for a win to honor the family's latest edition. "I have the greatest wife," he says. "She supports me through everything and anything."
Hawkins is a regular tournament player at Borgata and has numerous cashes including a 13th place finish in the 2009 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship. His pro numbers are 5 titles and nearly $400,000 in career earnings.
While receiving congratulations from other players, the 31 year old is quick to say that he wants to be out of diaper duty by the time he's 35 and glad to balance his poker and family lives.
"Poker is easy, family is hard," he says, but hard in a good way. "You have to be so many things to so many people, yet find a sense of yourself. All you can do is try your best."
While providing the stats on Harmony, Hawkins calls a preflop raise and says, "I'm supposed to call with this hand." The flop is 10♦ 5♦ 2♥ and Hawkins calls the 3k continuation bet.
The turn is the 4♠ and both players check. The river brings the 6♣ . The initial raiser, throws out a bet of 4,500 and Hawkins snap calls and shows A♣ K♦. His opponent mucks and Hawkins takes down the pot to build his stack to 80k.
"Now back to my kids," he says with a big smile, while raking the pot.
Harmony, joins big brother MJ (7), Naliyah (5) and Amadee (4).
Life is good both at the tables and on the home front.
Sweet Harmony
No comments:
Post a Comment