Joseph Hachem

A poker biography of Joseph Hachem.

Quick Information Name - Joseph Hachem Born - March 11th 1966, Lebanon Poker Room - Pokerstars.com

Biography

"Pass the sugah" is Lebanese-born Aussie Joseph Hachem's famous line, especially during the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Championship in 2005 where he bagged $7.5 million as the champion of the main event on his first ever WSOP.  

Hachem was born on March 11, 1966 in Lebanon.  His family moved to Australia when he was only six.  He grew up there and met his wife, Jeanie. The couple were first introduced to each other when Joe was 15 and Jeanie was 12.  It was in his teen years that Joe began playing poker just for fun.  He started with poker's Manila version.  It was only in the middle of 1990s -after he has seen the film "Rounders"- that Joe shifted to Texas Hold'em.  He then started playing in Melbourne's Crown Casino.

Although he made good money playing poker, it was not his only talent. Joe was also a chiropractor and operated his own chiropractic practice. However, he suffered a disorder in the blood vessel of his hands and that forced the closure of his 13-year old chiropractic business in 2000.  Joe then entered the mortgage world and worked as a mortgage broker.  But the call of poker was too strong that Joe found himself playing live in Melbourne and online over at PokerStars.com- dedicating more time to the game than to his work. A semi-professional poker player back then, poker only became a serious thing for Joe since 2005.  He went to the U.S along with his brother and cousin with $10,000 pocket money to play poker in Las Vegas.  

Joe first entered $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em, the Event 37 of WSOP.  The event ended with Joe earning $25,850 as the 10TH place.  He had no clue at all that the money he had won was nothing compared to what he was going to win only two weeks after.  Joe made it to the final of the $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em World Championship after beating more than 5,600 players- a record he is now holding.  He became the only Australian to go home victorious for the said event.  He also became one of the four non-Americans who have won the event.  

Joe Hachem now has a multi-millionaire tag under his name, at the same time a sponsored player of PokerStars.com.  Truly, he has all the resources he needed to join international poker tournaments along with his spouse and four kids.

As for joining, Joe again entered the 2006 WSOP and brought home more cash by making it to the two finals that include the Main Event.  For the same year, he also got a World Poker Tour (WPT) title for winning the 2006 Doyle Brunson North American Poker Championship.  As a result, he was ranked alongside Scotty Nguyen, Juan Carlos Mortenson, and Doyle Brunson as the players who have won the WPT championship title and WSOP Main Event.

With all the wealth poker has brought to his life, Joe got the chance to enjoy other favorite pastime such as smoking expensive cigarettes, eating good meals in fine restaurants, and playing golf.