| Player Profile: Joe Hachem |
| Written by Administrator | |||||||
| Wednesday, 05 August 2009 11:41 | |||||||
If you’re sitting at a poker table anticipating the showdown and the player across from you touches his sunglasses, smirks, and chirps, “Pass the sugar,” chances are you’ve lost the hand.
Professional poker player Joe Hachem burst onto the scene only a few short years ago, taking the top poker tournaments by storm and charming the world with his enthusiastic catch phrase, “Pass the sugar!”
History:
Joseph Hachem was born in Lebanon on March 11, 1966. Six years later, he would move with his family to Melbourne, Australia where he still lives today. He met his high school sweetheart and future wife when he was only 15, and they’ve been together all the many years since, having four children along the way.
Like many youth, Hachem had played a little poker strictly for fun but found a real interest in the Texas Hold ‘em style of the game after seeing the movie Rounders as a young adult.
Like many of his fellow professionals, he started his adult life as an educated man with a traditional career. Hachem ran his own chiropractic business for 13 years before being diagnosed with a rare blood disease in 2000. This disorder would prevent him from continuing in his practice, and thus Hachem sought a quick alternative to help him support his family.
Initially, he settled on a position as a mortgage broker. At the same time, he took his hobby to the next level and started entering Hold ‘em cash games. His skills and strategy quickly improved, so much so that he was able to focus exclusively on poker in just a few short years.
Experience:
As previously stated, Hachem’s experience with the game of poker was rudimentary to say the least. Prior to 2000, his playing was almost entirely restricted to fun games among family and friends, and he didn’t participate in competitive cash play until he was in his 30’s.
There was a field of 5,618 players for the main event, and Hachem battled through them all to sit at the final table. The newcomer started with one of the smallest stacks and slowly gained ground, eliminating one pro after another.
It was not Hachem but the world that was surprised when he took the whole series and won the 2005 WSOP World Championship on pocket threes, standing to thank his crowd of Australian supporters as they screamed “Aussie Aussie Aussie,” “Oi oi oi,” and his now wildly popular catch phrase, “Pass the sugar.”
No one-hit wonder, Hachem followed his WSOP Championship with a massive World Poker Tour win in their No Limit Hold ‘em Championship in 2006. He has since expanded his live play with appearances at major tournaments in the United States, Canada, Asia, and of course his home country of Australia. He posted his most recent tournament win in France with an 11th place finish at the Monte Carlo Grand Final.
Playing Style:
Hachem himself has admitted to being an emotional player. He rarely if ever utilizes a tight strategy, preferring instead a more aggressive style of play. He played through to the showdown that would win him the 2005 World Championship on nothing more than pocket threes, and other stories of the pro’s chutzpah and bluffing abound.
Hachem’s most notable wins are of course his 2005 WSOP World Championship, which netted him $7.5 million, and his 2006 WPT Championship worth $2,182,075. He also left the 2006 WSOP Championships with $256,800 from second in the Hold ‘em Short Handed event, $90,482 from a fourth place finish in the Pot Limit Hold ‘em event and $42,882 from placing 238th in the main event. His most recent major win was posted at the PokerStars’ EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo where he placed 11th for a take of $159,943.
Joe Hachem is still a relative newcomer in the professional poker circle, but his major wins and magnetic charisma make him a favorite at tournaments big and small.
Play Joe Hachem at PokerStars
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