- Team PokerStars Pro
- Chris Moneymaker
- Greg Raymer
- Joe Hachem
- Barry Greenstein
- Isabelle Mercier
- Daniel Negreanu
- John Duthie
- Tom McEvoy
- Steve Paul Ambrose
- Vanessa Rousso
- Luca Pagano
- Victor Ramdin
- Lee Nelson
- Bertrand Grospellier
- Humberto Brenes
- Bill Chen
- Katja Thater
- Noah Boeken
- Andre Akkari
- Dario Minieri
- Hevad Khan
- Raymond Rahme
- Tuan Lam
- Gavin Griffin
- Chad Brown
- Victoria Coren
Team PokerStars Pro - Joe Hachem
Joe Hachem
Joe Hachem was born in Lebanon before moving to Australia in the early 1970's. There he worked as a chiropractor before a rare blood disease forced him to abandon the profession that he loved. This blessing in disguise was the catalyst that led to Joe playing more poker than ever before. He made a total of four final tables in Australian tournaments, two playing No Limit Hold Em, and one each in Pot Limit Omaha and Pot Limit Hold Em. All of this play culminated in his victory at the 2005 World Series of Poker where he shocked the world and took home the biggest prize that had ever been awarded in a poker tournament.
The 2005 World Series of Poker
When Joe's friend won a seat in the main event of the World Series of Poker, Joe desperately wanted to join him. After getting the OK from his understanding wife, a grateful Hachem booked the trip, and the rest is history.
After arriving in Las Vegas, Hachem played a warm up event, the $1,000 No Limit Hold Em with Re-buys event. He just missed making the final table and finished 10th winning $28,500. This respectable finish had Joe in a great mindset and full of confidence for the main event.
Joe battled through the massive field, the largest in World Series of Poker history, before arriving at the final table with one of the shortest stacks. Due to the great structure of the event, Joe had time to continue to pick his spots and he steadily increased his stack to the chant of "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oi, Oi ,Oi" from his many supporters. Finally with a holding of 73o Joe flopped a straight. Steve Dannenmann, his loan remaining opponent, who was holding the A3, hit an Ace on the turn, giving him a pair of Aces and an open ended straight draw. They got all the money in the middle and when the 4 of clubs came on the river Joe Hachem was the World Series of Poker 2005 champion. Hachem won 7.5 million along with the coveted World Series of Poker Bracelet.
Life After the World Series
Along with Tom McEvoy, Chris Moneymaker, and Greg Raymer, Joe Hachem is the fourth World Series of Poker main event champion to represent PokerStars. Since his big win Joe has spent his time travelling to big buy-in tournaments around the world and spending as much time with his family as possible.
Since Joe's big win he has desperately wanted to prove to the fans and his fellow poker professionals that his win was more than a fluke. There will always be naysayer and doubters when a previously unknown player wins a big tournament and Joe was set to prove them all wrong. Joe had a number of close calls, including a final table at the WSOP Circuit Event at Bally's/Paris in which he finished in 5th place, four cashes at the 2006 WSOP, including two final tables and a 2nd place finish, but the big follow up victory still eluded him. That is until the Doyle Brunson North American Poker Championship in 2006.
The Doyle Brunson North American Poker Championship is one of the most coveted titles on the poker circuit. This World Poker Tour event drew a starting field of 583 of the toughest players and Joe Hachem had one goal, winning the tournament.
After reaching the final table, Hachem was in great position to get the big win he so desperately wanted. The only things standing in his way were 5 other players who also desperately wanted the victory, including one of the best tournament players in the world, Daniel Negreanu. After one major scare when Hachem had to hit a one outer to win a massive pot (Joe was a significant favorite when the chips went in, but his opponent got lucky on the turn), it was smooth sailing and Joe Hachem got the win and the validation that he was seeking. Oh yeah, he also won over 2 million dollars. Claiming that this win was more exciting than his WSOP victory, Hachem joined Doyle Brunson, Scotty Nguyen, and Carlos Mortenson as only the 4th player to win the WSOP main event and a WPT title.
For more information visit Joe Hachem's official website. Joe Hachem plays proudly for Team PokerStars
