Matt Higgins added another major accomplishment to an already loaded poker resume, taking down WSOPC Tunica Main Event for his 10th WSOP Circuit ring.
The victory continues a huge year for Higgins. Earlier this summer, he captured his first WSOP bracelet by winning the Mystery Millions for $1,000,000, and now he has added his third Circuit Main Event title and 10th ring.
Waiting for Higgins heads-up was Daniel Garner, a relatively new face on the Circuit who hardly looked like one throughout the final table. Garner put together an impressive run against a table filled with considerably more Circuit experience before ultimately finishing runner-up for $74,824.
Despite everything Higgins has accomplished in poker, there doesn’t seem to be much interest in slowing down.
“You gotta keep grinding, man,” Higgins said. “I gotta try to leave something for my kids when I pass. Hopefully, it’s not anytime soon, but I’m gonna try to build something for them.”
That grind has already produced three Circuit Main Event titles, 10 rings and now a bracelet, but Higgins still has some new poker experiences on his list. After spending most of his career playing domestically, he recently got his passport and is looking forward to taking his game overseas.
“I’m probably gonna do some traveling either this year or next year,” Higgins said. “I finally got a real passport, so I’m excited to go do some things.”
Matt Higgins is on a heater.
Katerina Lukina
Hometown advantage
For now, Tunica remains a place Higgins knows very well. His latest victory is his second Main Event title at the stop, and while the fields may be smaller than some of the Circuit’s biggest destinations, Higgins believes that doesn’t make winning here any easier.
“This field’s a lot tougher than people give it credit for,” Higgins said.
Part of that comes from just how familiar the Southern poker community is with one another. As the tournament got deeper, Higgins found himself surrounded by players he has battled with and befriended over years on the road.
“Yesterday, everybody to my left and right, I’m really good friends with,” Higgins said. “I’m just blessed, man. It’s great. I’m surrounded by so many great friends, and this is a tough game when you’re on the road all the time.”
Higgins knows just how tough those stretches can become. Before his million-dollar bracelet victory this summer, he revealed he had been dealing with a tournament downswing of roughly $300,000.
Then came the Mystery Millions bracelet, followed just a few months later by another six-figure Main Event victory.
Even the Tunica win came with a little extra motivation. Higgins joked that after a rough cash-game session leading into the tournament, there was only one reasonable solution left.
“I said, well, I guess I’m just gonna have to win the Main.”
And that’s exactly what he did.
