Seven weeks ago, on the opening day of the 2017 World Series of Poker, Maurice Hawkins told the world that he was going to win $7 million this summer. He’s a had decent enough summer so far, with four cashes for $271,608, but if he’s going to hit that number, he’s got only one option left.

“I’ve got to win the Main Event. I already knew I was going to win the Main. I did the best i could, I made about $280,” said Hawkins. He’s back in Las Vegas after going home for a couple of days to attend his sister’s wedding, but he got back to his winning ways almost as soon as he landed on Saturday night.

“Trip was great. Went and saw my sister get married. That was a special moment because I love her,” said Hawkins. “When I got back I won a $2K mega, the first tournament I played, then I played a $1K mega and figured I was tired so I just started going all in and just started going all in, went back to my hotel room at seven and stayed in there and didn’t leave.”

While many Main Event players are content to just sit back and make it through Day 1 by avoiding trouble, Hawkins isn’t going to change from the bull-in-a-china-shop approach that he’s developed while playing on the WSOP Circuit.

“I’ll be playing a lot of pots, I don’t know about every one of them, but I’ll play a lot of them. I dunno. I do well in big fields,” said Hawkins. “I tried to just look at them like they’re everything I always play against all the time. They’re like, ‘This guy is having a good time, I can’t wait to catch his ass’ and I ‘m like, ‘I can’t for you to think you’re going to catch me and I’m going to take your chips’.”

Nobody will ever accuse Hawkins of lacking self-confidence. Ask him who his favorite current poker player is and the answer is most likely going to be, Maurice Hawkins and that’s part of his approach to the Main Event.

“I was telling my wife today, I become my own fan. Like I know I’m going to do really well in this tournament, so it’s strange because I’m looking forward to seeing how it’s going to play out,” said Hawkins. “I know I’m going to get up to the top of the chip counts, I know I’m going to take a bad beat, I know I’m going to get emotional and be sad about it, but I know i’m going to fight back because of my ambition, and I know I’m going to make it back and I know I’m going to shine.”

While he’s maintaining that he’s focused on the Main Event, he also can’t help but look back at his final table appearance as opportunity lost. He’s not the only one who has taken a shot and missed though.

“Of course that shit pisses me off, but Michael Jordan missed a lot of shots but he hit the ones that mattered and he’s a champion,” said Hawkins. “When you’re at the top of your level, of course I bricked a final table, but like someone told me, they won’t be back at a final table, but for me a week later I’m at another final. I get more opportunities. Eventually one of them has to come through. Hopefully it’s the one that pays $8 million.”