Joe Hachem - 0 views
By now, you’ve likely seen how the 2005 World Series of Poker ended. It’s a moment I couldn’t forget if I wanted to. After battling with the affable, joking Steve Dannenman for days, I knew I finally had him. With only one card to come and a made straight, I pushed in the rest of my chips.
“Are you still having fun?” I asked him. His expression was priceless.
Seconds later, I was the 2005 WSOP champion, $7.5 million dollars richer, and preparing to embark on a journey that I never imagined.
Life began for me in Lebanon in 1966. My family moved to Australia in 1972 and I’ve lived in Melbourne ever since. Life in the land of the Aussies has taught me one simple thing: nothing is more important than family. I’ve been married for more than 16 years and fathered four children. Loving and supporting them has always been and will always be my main objective.
To that end, I spent 13 years in a successful chiropractic practice. After the turn of the millennium, I developed a rare condition that prevented me from using my hands to do my job. Unable to continue in my regular profession, I took on as a mortgage broker and started looking more closely at poker. Like I’m sure it is for many of you, what was once a hobby quickly became a passion. It was a game I’d been playing for most of my adult life. In the mid-1990s, I started to look at the cards more seriously. Once my condition took away my ability to do chiropractic work, I started to consider myself a semi-professional poker player, playing live in Melbourne and online at PokerStars.
Like any poker player, I’d harbored dreams of the World Series of Poker. I figured they would remain dreams. I couldn’t justify leaving my family for so long and so far away. Ultimately, I found a way to make it happen. Early in the 2005 WSOP, I played a small event, placed tenth, and pocketed $28,000. With the money in my pocket and a new confidence, I peeled off $10,000 and bought into the 2005 WSOP main event.
Seven days later, every poker dream I’d ever had became a reality. I had defeated the biggest poker field in history. I had just won the biggest first prize in poker history. I was a World Series of Poker champion. Now, I’m traveling the world in search of the biggest tournaments and making sure I keep true to the most important thing in my life: my family.
More about Joe Hachem:
Born: Lebanon, 1966
Home: Melbourne, Australia
Family: Married, with four kids
Hobbies: Spending time with family, playing golf, watching movies, having a good meal in a nice restaurant, and enjoying a good cigar in a nice bar
Current car: GS300 Lexus (Black-always black)
Next car: Mercedes CLS 500
Best poker moment: Final hand of the 2005 World Series of Poker
Worst poker moment: Catching Kido Phan with JT to my KK, all-in, and watching the flop come out JJ2 at the 2005 World Series of Poker Circuit event final table at Bally’s in Las Vegas
