Poker Player - Joseph Hachem
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Joseph Hachem was born on the 3rd of November 1966 in Lebanon he currently resides in Melbourne, Australia with his wife Jennie and four children. Joseph (also known as Joe) didn't spend much of his childhood in his native Lebanon because in 1972 he moved with his family to Melbourne where he spent his time growing up. Before turning to poker Joe was a chiropractor by profession up until 2002 but had to leave that career behind him when he was diagnosed with having a rare blood disorder in his hands, while he contemplated his future he turned his hand to playing poker.
Joe started his poker career in Australian poker tournaments these include the August 2000 Australasian Poker Championship when he competed in the Pot Limit Omaha were he finished in 4th place winning $3,944. In 2001 Joe finished in 16th place at the Australasian Championship No Limit Hold'em main event winning $1,150 also in 2001 Joe finished in 3rd place in the Australian Poker Championship were he won $3,629. The 2002 Australasian Poker Championships saw Joe finish in 5th place in the No Limit Hold'em event winning prize money of $4,518 in the 2003 Crown Australasian Poker Championship Limit Hold'em event Joe finished in 8th place winning $1,344. By 2003 Joe was seen as one of the well-known faces of the Australian poker scene and was a regular face at the Australian tournaments, in 2004 Joe finished in 5th place in the Melbourne Hold'em Championships, Pot Limit Hold'em winning $746. Joe's wins continued into 2004 however he was often only winning money in small numbers until he entered the 2005 36th Annual World Series of Poker event, first he finished in 10th place winning $25,850 in the No Limit Hold'em event before making the final table in the WSOP World Championship No Limit Hold'em main event.
Joe wasn't tempted to enter the WSOP until one of his friends won a trip and the entry fee courtesy of PokerStars.com, Joe decided that he wasn't going to try and win entry to the event on-line he was just going to pay the entry fee from his own pocket costing him $10,000 and it would eventually be the best investment of his life. At the start of the event there were a staggering 5,619 entrants ranging from the worlds best to newcomers all with their eyes on the top prize. After six days of play and $5,420,000 worth of chips Joe had made it to seat one of the final table, joining Joe at the final table were Steven Dannenmann, John Barch, Aaron Kanter, Andrew Black, Scott 'Magic' Lazer, Daniel Bergsdorf, Brad Kondracki and Mike 'The Mouth' Matusow, one by one the players were slowly filtered down to just two Joe Hachem and Steven Dannenmann. Joe triumphed and not only bet all of the 5,619 entrants he also won $7. 5 million dollars and the Texas Hold'em Championship title, Joe had gone from being unknown in the WSOP to a champion by entering on a whim.
Besides winning the 2005 WSOP champion event Joe has gone on to enter other event's both at home and away including the Crown Australian Poker Championship Pot Limit Hold'em event were he finished in 15th place, Bally's Las Vegas Poker Tournament, World Series of Poker Circuit Event No Limit Hold'em Championship in which he finished in 5th place. Joe has also seen action in early 2006 when he entered the Pokerstars Caribbean Adventure, World Poker Tour Season 4 No Limit Hold'em event finishing in 67th place and the Scandinavian Open - EPT, Pokerstars Season 2 No Limit Hold'em event in which he finished in 7th place. What is clear is that Joe's career in the poker world is far from over and we expect he see a lot more from him in the future.
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