Any poker player knows who Joseph Hachem is; he is of course the 2019 World Series of Poker winner. Hachem beat out 5,618 other players to be the last man standing in the field beating Steve Dannenmann with a 7 of clubs and 3 of spades. I still can’t believe that Hachem stayed in the hand after a pre-flop raise from $300,000 to $700, 000 but it was the right call. Joe Hachem became a legend and has his name forever remembered by poker players everywhere. So how did Hachem get into poker and end up winning the main event in 2005? For most poker players, the journey begins with playing multiple rounds of PokerQQ which is an interesting platform to hone the playing skills.
Hachem who was born in Lebanon moved to Australia in 1972 with his family, where he grew up and eventually became a chiropractor. After many years of practice he developed a rare blood disorder in his hands and was forced to quit his profession in 2002. He decided to focus on poker. He played and honed his skills on the poker table for three years and eventually found himself at the final table in the main event in 2005.
Hachem’s win isn’t just a typical win at The World Series of Poker. Joe’s win was special because this was the largest poker field the tournament has ever seen with 5,618 players from all over the world. To put that into perspective the two years before were way less in 2004 there were 2,576 entrants and in 2003 there were 839 entrants. So as you can see it is a huge win, to outlast over 5,000 players many of which are professionals who play poker for a living is an amazing feat.
The World Series of Poker has become so popular because the last two winners, Chris Moneymaker and Greg Raymer were both typical guys who won their spot at the WSOP through internet qualifiers. This made everyone and their brother think they could do the same and become a poker legend. Hachem is different though he actually paid the entire $10,000 buy-in, and ran the tables to become the champion.
Hachem isn’t just a fluke winner either, after the 2005 WSOP he went on to win a World Poker Tour title at the Bellagio Casino’s Doyle Brunson North American Poker Classic, making him the fourth man ever to win both the WSOP and WPT titles. He joined the likes of Doyle Brunson, Carlos Mortensen, and Scotty Nguyen, and if you know anything about poker those men are poker legends. Besides winning a WPT title Hachem also placed in the 2006 World Series of Poker, outlasting 97.2% of the field. Also to show you how much that means, there were 8,773 players in the field compared to the 5,618 the year before. Hachem placed 238th so he actually beat more players in 2006 then he did in 2005 to win the event. That is pretty amazing and it proves Hachem is the real deal and is what I determine a professional poker player, unlike Chris Moneymaker.
Joseph Hachem is now a representative for PokerStars, an online website that has all sorts of online poker games for fans. They have live tournaments for free, sit and go games, and all sorts of other games including cash games and tournaments. They also have a lot of great free-roll games with some great prizes if you can beat the thousands of others players that join the games.
Hachem is one of my favorite players in the game of poker and is a joy to watch at the poker table. Normally I like watching guys like Mike “The Mouth” Matusow and Phil Hellmuth Jr. because they are unpredictable and rude. Watching Hachem is just the opposite he carries himself well and is always pleasurable and funny at the table. Other players seem to like him and he has a good spirit and keeps the table interesting. His fans are another reason I like the Aussie so much; they are always behind him and I love when they chant “Aussie, Aussie, Aussie! OY OY OY!”
Its just fun to see Hachem playing poker and he is definitely one of the greatest players to ever play the game of Texas Hold’em. In 30 or 40 years the name Joseph Hachem will be remembered much like Jonny Chan and Doyle Brunson, Joseph Hachem is on his way to becoming one of the biggest poker legends in history. Thanks to ESPN we can now watch him become a Legend!
