1. Joseph Hachem is a Lebanese-Australian professional poker player known for being the first Australian to win the World Series of Poker main event, which earned him $7.5 million, then a record for all-time biggest tournament prize.
53 Facts About Joe Hachem
1. 2.
The next year, Joe Hachem won his first World Poker Tour title at the Bellagio Casino's Five Diamonds Poker Classic, earning him $2.2 million.
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Joe Hachem is one of only six poker players to win both a World Series of Poker main event and a World Poker Tour championship.
4.
Joseph Joe Hachem was born in Lebanon on 11 March 1966.
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Joe Hachem worked as a chiropractor for 13 years before giving up the career after developing a rare blood disorder that affected the blood vessels in his hands.
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Around 1995, while taking time off to consider his future, Joe Hachem started to play poker with greater frequency, mostly in casinos, as well as online.
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Joe Hachem ran a small brokerage business in Pascoe Vale, Victoria.
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Joe Hachem said he was too temperamental when he first started playing poker and had to learn to control his temper.
9.
Around 2000, after years of casual playing, Joe Hachem started playing regularly in tournaments at the Crown Casino and Entertainment Complex in Melbourne, where he often ended in the money.
10.
Joe Hachem spent another five years playing regularly on the Melbourne tournament circuit before setting his sights on the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas, Nevada.
11.
Just prior to entering the 2005 World Series of Poker, Joe Hachem visited the Bicycle Casino in Bell Gardens, California, to play in a no-limit Texas hold 'em game.
12.
One of the players made a joke that Joe Hachem was stopping in before being crowned the new "Australian champion".
13.
Joe Hachem entered the World Series of Poker as a relatively unknown poker player.
14.
Two weeks prior to the main event, Joe Hachem finished 10th in the $1,000 buy-in no-limit Hold'em World Series event, winning $25,850.
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Joe Hachem won the 2005 World Series of Poker $10,000 no-limit Texas hold 'em Main Event, outlasting 5,618 other players.
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Joe Hachem won $7,500,000 for the first-place finish, then a record for all-time largest poker tournament prize.
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Joe Hachem entered the tournament by paying the $10,000 entrance fee in cash.
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Joe Hachem ended the first day of the tournament with 67,000 in chips, about twice the average, and he said the strong start gave him confidence going into the rest of the tournament.
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Joe Hachem was short-stacked for much of the final table and was constantly being re-raised by professional player Aaron Kanter.
20.
Joe Hachem caught a queen on the flop and doubled his chips.
21.
Joe Hachem took the chip lead with three players remaining and after going heads-up against Steve Dannenmann, it took Hachem only six hands to win the game.
22.
Joe Hachem was the first Australian to win the World Series of Poker Main Event, and he immediately developed a strong fan base in Australia.
23.
Joe Hachem continued playing home games with his friends after his main event victory, including friendly games with George Clooney, Brad Pitt, and Casino Royale star Daniel Craig.
24.
Also in 2005, Joe Hachem made the final table of a World Series of Poker circuit event at the Bally's Las Vegas Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.
25.
Joe Hachem was the chip leader during much of the final table, but he suffered a crippling setback against Kido Pham, who went all in with Jack-Ten.
26.
Joe Hachem called with pocket kings, but lost when two jacks came up on the flop, costing Joe Hachem almost all of his chips.
27.
Joe Hachem was eventually eliminated by Lee Watkinson in fifth place, earning Hachem $88,172.
28.
At the 2006 World Series of Poker, Joe Hachem finished second in the $2,500 short-handed no limit hold 'em event, which drew 1,068 players.
29.
Joe Hachem won $256,800 from the second-place finish, but was nevertheless visibly disappointed by the outcome, and was comforted by his wife Jeanine and friend Greg Raymer, the 2004 World Series of Poker champion.
30.
Also in the 2006 World Series, Joe Hachem finished fourth in the $2,500 pot limit hold'em tournament, which had a starting field of 562 players.
31.
Gale eliminated Joe Hachem after catching an ace of spades on the river.
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Joe Hachem earned $90,482 for the fourth-place finish, and Gale eventually won the tournament.
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Joe Hachem finished in 238th place at the 2006 World Series Main Event, earning him $42,882.
34.
Joe Hachem was eliminated after his pocket Aces were outdrawn by Andrew Schreibman's pocket Jacks.
35.
Joe Hachem was the last remaining Main Event champion left in the field, as Greg Raymer had been the year before.
36.
In December 2006, Joe Hachem won $2,207,575 and his first World Poker Tour title at the Bellagio Casino's Five Diamonds Poker Classic.
37.
Joe Hachem won the "World Series of Poker Champions II" tournament on NBC's Poker After Dark on a table consisting of Main Event winners Doyle Brunson, Greg Raymer, Jamie Gold, Huck Seed, and Johnny Chan, whom he defeated heads up to win $120,000.
38.
In 2006, Joe Hachem appeared in Poker Superstars III, but failed to advance to the Super 16 round by only one point.
39.
In December 2007, Joe Hachem won the Poker Stars Asia Pacific Poker Tour Tournament of Champions, which included a field of such players as Raymer, Chris Moneymaker and Isabelle Mercier.
40.
Joe Hachem finished in 103rd place in the 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event, which drew a field of 6,494 players, earning himself $40,288.
41.
Also in 2009, Joe Hachem participated in the fifth season of High Stakes Poker, a cash game television series on the Game Show Network.
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Also in 2009, Joe Hachem produced and hosts the Australian reality show The Poker Star, which characterizes Joe Hachem as a poker mentor searching for the next big player.
43.
Joe Hachem was inducted into the Australian Poker Hall of Fame in 2009 with "Legend Status", to which he now serves as Chairman.
44.
Joe Hachem said he believes his discipline and control helps him make good decisions at the right time.
45.
Joe Hachem credited his success at the 2005 World Series of Poker in part to his ability to make difficult laydowns.
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Joe Hachem has advised amateur players against bluffing too often or without any outs.
47.
Joe Hachem is widely regarded as one of the best high-stakes cash game players in Australia.
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Joe Hachem has been married since 1989 to Jeanie, who he has known since both were teenagers.
49.
Joe Hachem said his wife was extremely supportive of his decision to seek a career in poker and participate in the World Series of Poker in 2005.
50.
Joe Hachem operates a mortgage company and enjoys playing golf, especially with friends and other poker players.
51.
Until December 2011, Joe Hachem represented the online poker website PokerStars.
52.
Joe Hachem played under the name "JoeHachem" on the site.
53.
Actor Matt Damon, who starred in the 1998 poker film Rounders, is a fan of Joe Hachem and has played poker with him.