Winning a WSOP Circuit Ring is often seen as a platform to winning WSOP bracelets. There are more rings around than bracelets, they cost less bucks to enter. But over the past few years, a rivalry has developed at the top of the all-time list of WSOP Circuit ring winners that has enthralled the poker world. Ari Engel, cast in the role of hero, just levelled that battle at the top of the charts.

Engel Wins 14^th and 15^th Circuit Rings in One Wild Week

To say that Ari Engel’s record in WSOP Circuit events is a phenomenal one would still be an understatement. Over the past month alone, he has vaulted his number of titles from 12 to 15, and in the past week in Graton, he’s won rings number 14 and 15.

The announcement of his 14^th Circuit Ring was typically understated.

Won a small field (60 entries- I was 2 of them) $400 horse tournament @GratonPoker for my 14th wsopc ring

— Ari Engel (@AriEngelPoker) August 16, 2023

Just a day later, Engel conquered his 15^th WSOPC event, tying at the top of the leaderboard with Maurice Hawkins and overtaking the now third-placed Josh Reichard, who has won 14 rings. Winning his own 14^th in the $400 H.O.R.S.E. event in Northern California for $6,647, his latest win was in Pot-Limit Big O, also costing $400 to enter and garnering him $6,564 as a reward. Most importantly, he won that all-important 15^th WSOPC ring.

It’s only a few weeks since Engel won the latest in a series of WSOP Circuit rings in an online event, this time at the WSOP Michigan Circuit Super Series, winning $8,926. In fact, his most recent three WSOPC victories represent three of the four lowest top prizes he’s won in his run to 15 titles.

Beyond Good and Evil?

In winning his 15^th WSOP Circuit ring, Engel ties at the top of the all-time list with a fairly controversial character in the poker world, Maurice Hawkins. For all of Engel’s achievements, it is possibly one of his most treasured that he possesses in his reputation for being a poker professional of the utmost repute. This clashes with Hawkins, who some poker fans and players have made accusations against, most recently of not paying backers what they are owed from his winnings.

Poker is often enjoyed on a binary level, as we pitch and root for our favorites against an identified enemy. In this sense, the rivalry between Engel and Hawkins exists more in the minds of poker fans than the players. They have no personal beef, they have rarely met at the felt and their WSOPC paths to glory have been apart from each other, often with several states between them in separate states.

Engel’s efforts to win number 16 are sure to come against the backdrop of Hawkins doubling his own pursuit of the outright lead. In trying to regain that title, Hawkins is after notoriety and respect, hoping that his continued success in the format repairs his reputation. Engel, not under the same scrutiny, is simply after poker history.

How Much Are Engel’s WSOP Circuit Titles Worth?

Over the course of the last 16 years, Engel has gone from first-time winner on the WSOP Circuit tour to record-holding top dog. The journey is an interesting one, chiefly from a financial point of view. Back in March 2007, Engel took down the $300-entry WSOP event in Atlantic City, winning the top prize of $63,018. That remains his biggest-ever WSOPC win, a clear $33,000 bigger than any other top prize he’s taken on the WSOP Circuit tour.

Ari Engel has also won two WSOP bracelets in his time at the poker felt, the $2,500-entry No Limit hold’em event in 2019 for a top prize of $427,399 and the $10,000 buy-in Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship for $317,076 just two years ago. Both those wins dwarf his victories on the WSOP Circuit stage, but his overall record on the World Series of Poker is boosted by them.

What is most important to Ari Engel – winning a third WSOP bracelet in the forthcoming online series, where 41 events take place, or the WSOP Paradise festival in December, or taking down a record-breaking 16^th WSOP Circuit ring? Only he knows that, though it might be suspected to be the latter. Over the course of his 15 victories, he has turned buy-ins totalling $8,000 into $325,000 in top prizes.

Whatever happens next, that’s an amazing record.

* online events on the WSOP-C tour.