Joe Hachem

infobox poker player
firstname=Joe
lastname=Hachem
nickname

---

caption=Hachem at the 2008 World Series of Poker
hometown=Melbourne
wsop bracelet count=1
wsop money finishes=9
wsop main event best finish rank=Winner
wsop main event best finish year=2005
multi-year wsop winner
wpt titles=1
wpt final tables=1
wpt money finishes=3
ept titles="None"
ept final tables="None"
ept money finishes=1

Joseph Hachem (pronounced "Ha-shem") ( _ar. جوزف هاشم) (born 3 November 1966) is a Lebanese-Australian poker player known for winning the main event of the 2005 World Series of Poker.

Before poker

Hachem, who was born in Lebanon, and his family moved to Australia in 1972. In 2002, he gave up a career as a chiropractor due to a rare blood disorder and decided to concentrate on poker. [ [http://www.poker-babes.com/bio/joseph-hachem/ Poker Babes: Joseph Hachem profile] ]

Hachem is married to wife Jeanie Hachem and has four children, Anthony, Justine, Daniel and James. He has a brother named Tony Hachem. [http://www.pokerstars.com/team-pokerstars/joe-hachem/ Team PokerStars profile] ]

Poker tournaments

2005

Prior to his Main Event win, Hachem finished 10th in the $1,000 buy-in No Limit Hold'em World Series event, winning $25,850.

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 cards|7♣|3♠. The flop came cards|6♥|5♦|4♦, giving Hachem a straight. When the turn brought the cards|A♠, Steve Dannenmann made the top pair (with an open-ended straight draw) with his starting hand of cards|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 cards|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 represents PokerStars. [http://www.pokerstars.com/team-pokerstars/joe-hachem/ Team PokerStars profile] ]

After Hachem won the 2005 Main Event, WSOP commentator Norman Chad declared, "Hachem turned 7-3 offsuit into $7.5 million. Pass the sugar!" Hachem himself first used what would become his catch phrase after flopping a flush with A6 of clubs against Andrew Black's three queens, and winning a large pot. (Actually, Hachem had said "Pass the sugar!" prematurely: had the board paired, Black would have had at least a full house, which would have eliminated Hachem. Fortunately for Joe, the board didn't pair.)

2006

At the 2006 World Series of Poker, Hachem finished second in the when his cards|A♠|Q♣ was outdrawn by Dutch Boyd's cards|A♦|5♥ on a board of cards|A♥|K♣|9♠|J♣|5♦ on the final hand.

Hachem later finished fourth in the ; 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 , after his pocket Aces were outdrawn by Andrew Schreibman's pocket Jacks. Hachem took home $42,882, and in defense of his title outlasted 97.2% of the largest field in poker history. He was also the last remaining Main Event champion left in the field, as Greg Raymer had been the year before.

In December, Hachem won $2,207,575 and his first World Poker Tour title at the Bellagio Casino's Five Diamonds Poker Classic.

Other poker events

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.

He, Doyle Brunson, Carlos Mortensen, Scotty Nguyen and Dan Harrington are the only five people to have won the World Series of Poker Main Event and a World Poker Tour title.

Hachem won "World Series of Poker Champions II" 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.

Hachem won the PokerStars APPT Tournament of Champions in December 2007. The single-table tournament was composed of winners from all previous APPT events as well as Team PokerStars members including Greg Raymer. Chris Moneymaker and Isabelle Mercier.

As of 2008, his total live tournament winnings exceed $10,700,000. [ [http://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/player.php?a=r&n=5435 Hendon Mob tournament results: Joe Hachem] ] He is ranked 3rd in live poker tournament career earnings behind Jamie Gold and Daniel Negreanu. [ [http://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/ranking/1] ]

European Poker Tour

Hachem finished in 11th place at the 2008 PokerStars.com EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo, earning €101,000 ($159,943), in his final hand he was short stacked, faced with a re-raise for all of his chips on a flop of cards|4c|10c|3s, he made the call with cards|10d|6s for a pair of tens however his opponent Isaac Baron (known online as "westmenloAA") held cards|10d|Js for the same pair of tens but with a better kicker, the turn brought cards|5s giving Hachem eight extra outs for an open ended straight draw which failed to come when the river brought the cards|Ac eliminating the 2005 World Champion from the tournament. [ cite web|url=http://www.pokernews.com/live-reporting/2008-pokerstars-ept-grand-final-monte-carlo/main-event/day4/ |title=2008 PokerStars.com EPT Grand Final - Monte Carlo - Live Reporting |accessdate=2008-04-16 |first=change100 |work=PokerNews.com ]

Notes

External links

* [http://www.joehachem.com/ Official site]
* [http://poker.about.com/od/playerprofiles/p/josephhachem.htm Poker.about.com profile]
* [http://www.blondepoker.com/index.php?q=node/4207 BlondePoker profile]
* [http://www.cardplayer.com/poker_news/news_story/1231?class=PokerNews CardPlayer interview]
* [http://www.allinmag.com/article.php?article=52 ALL IN Magazine interview]
* [http://bigpoker.ca/resources/rounders/interviews/hachem_interview.mp3 Rounders Poker Show interview]