Joseph Hachem is another example of why professional poker is so
popular these days.
Although he's a well-known poker player in his native Australia,
Hachem was completely unknown in America until he when he won
the 2005 World Series of Poker. Since then, Hachem has run off a
string of accomplishments in the high stakes poker world.
And he has done so playing only about half of the World Poker
Tour stops. Like the two previous World Series of Poker winners,
Joseph Hachem has developed an online poker career through his
relationship to
PokerStars.
Joe Hachem's Early Years
Joseph Hachem was born in Lebanon in 1966. His family moved to
Australia in 1972 to escape the escalating Lebanese Civil War.
Hachem lived the normal life of a young man in Melbourne,
Australia. He got a degree and became a chiropractor, slipping into
a life of domestic bliss with his wife, Jeannie, and their four
children, ages 14 to 9. But Joseph developed a rare blood disorder
that made his career difficult--if not impossible.
Hachem had to find a new career.
Playing the Hand He Was Dealt
Joseph discovered poker in 1995. He had played the game off and
on since that time. When his previous career proved unworkable,
Joseph began to focus on his poker skills. He was convinced he could
provide for his family as a rounder. To hedge his bets, Hachem
opened a business as a mortgage banker, which he kept going from
2003 to 2005.
During this same time, the name Joseph Hachem became
well-known to poker insiders in Australia.
Hachem won several key Australian tournaments, enough to justify
Joseph's ambition to be a professional card player. To keep his
skills honed, Hachem played at the Crown Casino in Melbourne. Joseph
built up enough of a bankroll that he was able to enter the 2005
World Series of Poker Main Event through the $10,000 buy in. Only
three other non-Americans had ever won the main event, but no one
from the Pacific Rim had ever done so.
From the Land Down Under
Joseph Hachem entered several other events at the 2005 World
Series of Poker. About midway through the series, Hachem finished
10th at a $1,000 rebuy event, netting just over $25,000.
Joseph felt primed for the main event. Though his wife and kids
remained in Australia, they fully supported his trip to Vegas and
talked with him on the phone every night.
When the event started,
there were 5,618 other players. Some were the famous superstars of
poker, while others were dead money amateurs from all over the
world. About ten of them were fellow Aussies.
Joseph had his ups and downs during the weeklong tourney, and he
even survived one all-in call that would have sent him packing.
Joseph played his way into the final table. He was one of the short
stacks through most of the 14-hour final session, but Hachem
survived to keep playing. When Mike Matusow finished 9th, the last
of the big name players were gone.
It eventually came down to Hachem versus Steve Dannenman. When
Hachem finally won an all-in bet against Dannenman, he recieved his
$7.5 million to the shouts from fellow Australians in the crowd.
A call back home informed him he was the new hero in his chosen
homeland.
After the Big Win - Hachem's Life as a Champion
Joseph Hachem is be the real deal.
Since his victory at the
WSOP, he has entered other events on the
World Poker Tour.
He finished 5th at the 2005 WSOP Tournament Circuit event at
Paris/Bally's in Las Vegas, which brought him nearly $90,000. He
ended up 7th at the Bellagio Friday/Saturday No Limit Hold 'Em
Tournament. And just recently, Joseph Hachem won money at the
PokerStars Caribbean Poker Adventure.
Though Hachem says he does
not want to travel too much, he plans on playing the World Poker
Tour in the summer when his family can travel with him. Meanwhile,
he has signed on with
PokerStars. The Pokerstars.com deal will allow Hachem to stay
home and still play some of the best poker players in the world, or
against the betting public.
Other poker players you might be interested in reading about:
This page was last updated on January
12, 2006.
