Player Profile
By Matthew Winnington, Sat Dec 10th
One of the most prestigious tournaments in the brick andmortar world in the 21st century (and previously as well) is theWorld Series of Poker. The event draws thousands of enthusiasticpoker players from the world over each and every year. Indeed,the 2005 World Series of features over 5,600 dedicatedparticipants. The winner of the World Series of 2005 tournament was JoeHachem. In winning in the World Series of tournament in2005, Hachen took home a record breaking prize of $7.5 million. Brief Bio: Joe Hachem
Hachem is garnering the reputation as being one of the bestpoker players anywhere in the world. This perception of Hachemactually began to take hold even before his historic winnings inthe 2005 World Series of tournament. Many expertsbelieve that Hachem will remain a force to be reckoned with onthe tournament circuit for years to come. Hachem was born in March, 1966, in Lebanon. As a boy, he movedwith his family to Melbourne, Australia. (Australia remains hishome today.) Prior to taking up professional poker, Hachem was a practicingchiropractor in Australia. He saw patients until about a decadeago when he developed a rare blood disease that prevented himfrom effectively working with his patients. At that time, and inorder to kill time, he took up playing as a hobby.According to a number of interviews he has given over the courseof the past couple of years, he never envisioned the day that hewould be playing professionally -- let along winning alarge scale tournament like the World Series of Poker. Hachem is married and has four children. Joe Hachem and His Career as a Professional Player Prior to taking home the coveted World Series of prize,Hachem played for a mere ten years. As mentioned, he tookup at that time as a means of passing the time. 2005 actually marked Hachem's first turn at play in the WorldSeries of Poker. While it certainly is not heard of for a personto win such a large tournament his first time in the door,Hachem is marking territory as a very formidable player in the21st century. Hachem is the first Australian who has won the United Statesbased World Series of Poker, although not the first non-U.S.citizen to take home the first place prize. Joe Hachem and Online Playing Although Hachem is making his mark in the tournaments ofthe brick and mortar world, he has set his sites on the world ofonline gaming and playing. According to Hachem himself: "Istarted in casinos (in the brick and mortar world). But, in thepast two years, I've been playing online a lot." Hachem made his remarks following his victory in the 2005 WorldSeries of competition. Hachem joins a growing number ofpoker professionals who have cut their card playing teeth incasinos the world over who are becoming more heavily involved inonline playing and Internet based tournaments. Atthis point in time, Hachem spends at least some time each weekplaying online. Hachem and other well known professional players arejoining the literally thousands of men and women who are takingup playing online each and every year. With the tremendousrise in the number of people taking part in online poker, evenlarge casino operators like Harrah's are getting into the game.(Harrah's has announced its intention to play a large role inthe online casino market -- including -- on into thefuture.) A growing number of enthusiasts (both professional andamateur) envision the day when online tournaments will infact carry with them hefty prizes like the multi-million dollarpurse offered in the World Series of in 2005. Indeed, someinsiders from the world of professional suggest that theday when Internet based tournaments will match the prizes foundin the
brick and mortar world is not all that far off. At the present time, Hachem intends to continue playing pokerprofessionally. (When not at the table, Hachem owns and operatesa brokerage firm in Australia. He has no immediate plans to endthat particular business despite his great success in in2005.) Hachem intends to continue to play in high profile tournaments-- both in the brick and mortar world and online. According to interviews with Hachem his family remains the focusof his life. When asked what he sees himself doing down theroad, he has replied simply (in multiple interviews): "Look after my family, my mum, my kids." Certainly, it goes without saying that a bright future is in thecards for Joe Hachem. About the author:A regular tournament player who contributes to sites dealingwith a variety of games both online and off, visitMatthew's site at http://www.playrealpokeronline.com for thelatest news and articles on America's favorite card game. | 
