Joe Hachem (Diamond Joe)

Joe Hachem is best known for winning the 2005 World Series of Poker main event. That year, 5,618 players took part in the tournament and Hachem, with his victory, was able to get his hands on 7.5 million US dollars and the coveted bracelet. At the time, this was a record sum for a poker tournament. Today, with $1 million buy-in tournaments and the WSOP's main event now boasting up to 10,000 entries (2023), the prize pools are higher, but it was a record at the time. Remember that in the first edition of the Main Event in 1970, only 6 players took part!

It was bad luck that led him to poker

Before winning the Main Event, Hashem was an unremarkable citizen of Melbourne, Australia. He lived happily with his wife Jeanie and earned a living as a chiropractor. After several years in the profession, Hachem learned that he had a rare blood disease that affected the blood vessels in his hands, his precious working tools. It was during this period, when he was questioning his professional future, that he started playing poker. The rest is poker history. On the final table of the Main Event, just before his victory, we could hear his supporters loudly shouting "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oi, Oi, Oi!", a chant often heard at Australian sporting events. For those who watched that year's final table live, that cry is inseparable from Hashem's victory.

What is he doing today?

Joe Hachem still plays poker. In fact, he was spotted at the recent 2023 World Series of Poker in Las Vegas. Even though he is no longer part of the PokerStars pro team (since 2011), he seems to lead a well-balanced life, alternating his time between poker, his mortgage company and his family (his wife Jeanie as well as his 4 children, Anthony, Justine, Daniel, and James).