Joe Hachem
For the Lebanese-Australian actor, see Joe Hasham.Joseph (Joe) Hachem (pronounced "Ha-shem") (born
3 November 1966 in
Lebanon) is a
Lebanese-
Australian poker player.
Hachem and his family moved from Lebanon to Australia in 1972. In 2002, he gave up a career as a
chiropractor due to a rare blood disorder in his hands, and decided to concentrate on poker.
2005
Hachem won the
2005 World Series of Poker (WSOP) $10,000
no limit Texas hold 'em Main Event, outlasting 5,618 other players, and winning $7,500,000. Hachem was short-stacked for much of the final table, and did not take a chip lead until there were just 3 players remaining. In the final hand, Hachem called a pre-flop raise from $300,000 to $700,000 with his
7♣ 3♠. The
flop came
6♥ 5♦ 4♦, giving Hachem a
straight. When the
turn brought the
A♠,
Steve Dannenmann made the top
pair (with an up-and-down straight draw) with his starting hand of
A♦ 3♣. Hachem bet, Dannenmann raised, Hachem moved
all-in and was called. In the end, Dannenmann could only tie if the
river brought a 7 (giving him the same straight), but the
4♣ on the
river ensured Hachem the win.
Unlike the previous two winners (
Greg Raymer and
Chris Moneymaker), Hachem was not an
Internet qualifier, instead paying the full
buy-in. However, like Raymer and Moneymaker, Hachem is now a representative of
PokerStars.
After Hachem won the 2005 Main Event, WSOP commentator
Norman Chad declared, "He turned a 7-3 offsuit into $7.5 million. Pass the sugar!" Hachem himself first used what would become his
catch phrase after flopping a flush against
Andrew Black's three queens, and winning a large pot.
2006
At the
2006 World Series of Poker, Hachem finished second in the
$2,500 short-handed no limit hold 'em event when his A♠ Q♣ was outdrawn by
Russ "Dutch" Boyd's
A♦ 5♥ on a board of
A♥ K♣ 9♠ J♣
5♦ on the final hand.
Hachem later finished fourth in the
$2,500 pot limit hold'em tournament; he was once again eliminated after taking a
bad beat on the river, this time from eventual winner
John Gale.
Hachem also finished
in the money (238th place) of the
2006 WSOP Main Event, after his pocket Aces were outdrawn by Andrew Schreibman's pocket Jacks. (Schreibman eliminated another player along with Hachem) Hachem took home $42,882, and in defense of his title outlasted 97.2% of the largest field in poker history.
Hachem has also made the final table of a
World Series of Poker circuit event.
Hachem also appeared in
Poker Superstars III, but failed to advance to the Super 16 round by only one point.
As of 2006, his total live tournament winnings exceed $8,000,000.
Hachem is married and has four children. He also runs a small mortgage brokerage business in
Pascoe Vale and enjoys playing
golf.
*
Official site*
Team PokerStars profile*
Poker Babes profile*
Poker.about.com profile*
CardPlayer interview*
ALL IN Magazine interview*
PokerPlayer magazine interview*
Hendon Mob tournament results
