Joe Hachem

Joseph Hachem (جوزف هاشم; ; born 11 March 1966) is a Lebanese-Australian professional poker player known for being the first Australian to win the World Series of Poker main event, which earned him $7.5 million, then a record for all-time biggest tournament prize.

The next year, Hachem won his first World Poker Tour title at the Bellagio Casino's Five Diamonds Poker Classic, earning him $2.2 million.

He is one of only six poker players to win both a World Series of Poker main event and a World Poker Tour championship.

Including his WSOP Main Event victory, Hachem has finished in the money in thirteen World Series events.

Joseph Hachem was born in Lebanon on 11 March 1966.

In 1972, at age six, Hachem and his family moved to Melbourne, Australia.

He worked as a chiropractor for 13 years before giving up the career after developing a rare blood disorder that affected the blood vessels in his hands.

Around 1995, while taking time off to consider his future, Hachem started to play poker with greater frequency, mostly in casinos, as well as online.

He also ran a small brokerage business in Pascoe Vale, Victoria.

Hachem said he was too temperamental when he first started playing poker and had to learn to control his temper.

Around 2000, after years of casual playing, Hachem started playing regularly in tournaments at the Crown Casino and Entertainment Complex in Melbourne, where he often ended in the money.

Hachem spent another five years playing regularly on the Melbourne tournament circuit before setting his sights on the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Hachem and his World Series main event win has been credited with consolidating the boom in popularity for poker in Australia and beyond (which was first thrust into the mainstream consciousness by Chris Moneymaker in 2003), including potentially being the impetus for the casino scenes in the 2006 movie Casino Royale; the original gambling action from the original Casino Royale novel was baccarat.

Hachem continued playing home games with his friends after his main event victory, including friendly games with George Clooney, Brad Pitt, and Casino Royale star Daniel Craig.

Just prior to entering the 2005 World Series of Poker, Hachem visited the Bicycle Casino in Bell Gardens, California, to play in a no-limit Texas hold 'em game.

One of the players made a joke that Hachem was stopping in before being crowned the new "Australian champion".

Hachem entered the World Series of Poker as a relatively unknown poker player.

Hachem won the 2005 World Series of Poker $10,000 no-limit Texas hold 'em Main Event, outlasting 5,618 other players.

He won $7,500,000 for the first-place finish, then a record for all-time largest poker tournament prize.

He entered the tournament by paying the $10,000 entrance fee in cash.

Hachem ended the first day of the tournament with 67,000 in chips, about twice the average, and he said the strong start gave him confidence going into the rest of the tournament.

Hachem's chip stack stayed at the tournament average for most of the tournament until he reached the final table, which lasted a record 13 hours and 54 minutes.

A number of fellow Australians provided moral support from the audience, chanting "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oi, Oi, Oi!".

Hachem was short-stacked for much of the final table and was constantly being re-raised by professional player Aaron Kanter.

With four players left in the hand, Hachem was rejuvenated when he went all in with against Kanter, who had.

Hachem caught a queen on the flop and doubled his chips.

In a later interview, Hachem said he knew the hand was a turning point for him.

He took the chip lead with three players remaining and after going heads-up against Steve Dannenmann, it took Hachem only six hands to win the game.

In the final hand, Hachem called a pre-flop raise from 300,000 to 700,000 chips with, one of the worst starting hands in Texas hold 'em.

The flop came, giving Hachem a straight.

When the turn brought the, Steve Dannenmann made the top pair (with an open-ended straight draw) with his starting hand of.

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 on the river ensured Hachem the win.

After winning the tournament, Hachem wrapped himself in an Australian flag and shouted, "Thank you, America!".

Hachem was the first Australian to win the World Series of Poker Main Event, and he immediately developed a strong fan base in Australia.

During a post-tournament interview, WSOP commentator Norman Chad declared, "Hachem turned 7-3 offsuit into $7.5 million. Pass the sugar!"

Hachem himself first used the line, which came to be considered a winning catchphrase after flopping a flush with against Andrew Black's three queens and winning a large pot.

(In actuality, Hachem had said "Pass the sugar!" prematurely. Had the board paired in this hand, Black would have had at least a full house, which would have eliminated Hachem.)

Two weeks prior to the main event, Hachem finished 10th in the $1,000 buy-in no-limit Hold'em World Series event, winning $25,850.

As of January 2018, Hachem's tournament winnings exceed $12,200,000, making him the 35th-highest ranked player in live tournament career earnings.