A poker player by the name of Adrian Sorin Lovin was disqualified from a World Series of Poker $1,500 buy-in event late last week after calling poker pro Maurice Hawins a racial slur, according to multiple reports and social media posts.

According to Hawkins, a winner of 11 WSOPCircuit gold rings, Lovin said to him: “Shut up n*****.” Hawkins is well-known for his table chatter, but he obviously believes the words directed at him were wrong. 

According to Hawkins and media reports, Lovin, who hails from Italy, was originally given a penalty from WSOP tournament staff. However, he was eventually disqualified before resuming play the following day.

Hawkins’ account was corroborated by other poker players at the Rio casino, including bracelet winner Dutch Boyd, who tweeted a photo of Lovin. According to Boyd, Lovin became very quiet after the incident as players in the surrounding area became aware of what happened.

Lovin admitted to openly using the racial slur in an interview with AssoPoker.com. He claimed his comment was justified because Hawkins had jokingly asked how to say “kiss my ass” in Italian. He also claimed he didn’t understand the significance of the racial slur.

Hawkins tweeted his happiness in the decision to boot the racist out of the tourney.