Joe Hachem

Originally hailing from Lebanon, Hachem moved to Australia at a young age with his family. Hachem spent 13 years as a chiropractor before he was forced to give up the profession due to the development of a rare blood disorder which affected his hands. It was at this time that Hachem began to focus more on poker, beginning to play casino tournaments more regularly.

Despite often finishing in the money, at this point Hachem was not a profitable enough player to support his family and so he opened a small mortgage brokers business.

It was the 2005 World Series of Poker which brought Hachem to the global attention of the poker world. Hachem attended the event with no serious aspirations for success, treating it as a holiday with a few friends. However, he finished tenth in the $1,500 no limit Texas Hold em event, and used the $25,850 cash to buy in to the Main Event. Hachem played solidly, managing to reach the final table with a short stack, eventually gaining the chip lead to play Steve Dannenmann heads-up. Hachem won the tournament in strange style, calling a pre-flop raise with 7-3 offsuit, one of the worst hands in Hold'em. This paid off for Hachem as he flopped the straight, and when Dannenmann paired his ace on the turn all of the chips made their way into the pot.

Hachem was crowned as the first Australian Main Event champion, and has been credited with starting an Australian poker boom. The next year at the 2006 Main Event Hachem had another deep run, outlasting 97% of the field to finish 238th out of more than 8,000 players. Hachem continued his tournament success in 2006 when he took down the World Poker Tour Five Diamonds Poker Classic for $2,207,575. This win promoted Hachem to the elite club of just 5 people who have won both a World Series of Poker Main Event and a World Poker Tour Championship.