Joe Hachem(credit: Wikipedia)
A former chiropractor who had to quit due to a blood disorder, Joe Hachem is Australia’s first World Series of Poker Main Event champion. The father of four – he’s married to his wife Jeannie and brother to pro player Tony – was born in Lebanon and moved to Australia with his family in 1972.
Hachem, who used his catch phrase, “Pass the sugar!” during the 2005 final table, paid the full buy-in to enter the World Series of Poker Main Event. The 2005 WSOP was significant since it was the last one to be held a Binion’s. (The following year and currently, the WSOP moved to the Rio All-Suites Hotel & Casino, owned by Harrah’s).
Prior to winning the Main Event in ’05, Hachem took 10th place in the $1,000 buy-in NLHE tourney, taking down $25,850. He defeated 5,618 other players in the WSOP Main Event in 2008 including Steve Dannenmann heads-up.
As a result, Hachem claimed the $7.5 million purse for first place.
Since then, Hachem has become a fixture on the professional circuit, making a deep run in the 2006 WSOP Main Event and winning a World Poker Tour title (December 2006). He’s also taken down the Asian Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) Tournament of Champions in December 2007.
As of 2008, his live tournament winnings have gone near $11,000,000.