Joe Hachem: Poker Results & Memorable Hands

Joe Hachem won the World Series of Poker Main Event at the height of poker’s mainstream popularity in 2005. His poker accomplishments aren’t just limited to that championship run, however.

Hachem also holds a WPT Main Tour title, along with 34 cashes and eight final table appearances at the WSOP over the course of his career. The 55-year-old Australian poker icon stands as a legend in his home country and is still one of the most popular WSOP Main Event champions of all time.

Here’s a look at the poker accomplishments and path to success for Joe Hachem:

Joe Hachem’s Tournament Results and Biggest Cashes

As of April 2021, Joe Hachem’s career poker tournament earnings total $12,713,761. Hachem’s five biggest tournament scores include:

1. 2005 World Series of Poker $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em Championship (1st – $7,500,000)
2. 2006 WPT Doyle Brunson North American Poker Classic $15,000 No-Limit Hold’em (1st – $2,207,575)
3. 2012 Aussie Million A$ 100,000 Challenge (3rd – $339,726)
4. 2011 The Big Event $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em Main Event (2nd – $300,000)
5. 2006 World Series of Poker $2,500 Short-Handed No-Limit Hold’em (2nd – $256,800)

Take a look at Hachem’s entire history of tournament poker results at his Hendon Mob page.

Joe Hachem’s Memorable Hands

Joe Hachem’s most memorable win couldn’t have come in a bigger spot. Hachem took down the 2005 World Series of Poker Main Event just as the “poker boom” era began to take off.

While many hands from past WSOP Main Events are only available via PokerGO’s streaming subscription service, the final hand from Hachem’s 2006 win is posted on the PokerGO YouTube channel. Hachem and Steve Dannenmann are heads-up for the most prestigious poker title in the world when the following hand develops:

The hand begins with the blinds at 150,000/300,000. Dannenmann opens to 700,000 with A♦ 3♣, and Hachem calls with 7♣ 3♠. The flop falls a favorable 4♦ 5♦ 6♥ for Hachem, giving the Australian a seven-high straight.

Hachem checks, Dannenmann continuation bets for 700,000, and Hachem quickly raises to 1,700,000. Dannenmann makes the call.

The A♠ comes on the turn, giving Dannenmann top pair along with his open-ended straight draw. He doesn’t know he’s a 97% underdog in the hand at this point and hoping for a chop at best.

Hachem bets 2,000,000, and Dannenmann raises to 5,000,000. Hachem goes all-in, and Dannenmann makes the call. 

Dannenmann needs a seven to hit the board for a chop, but the river comes 4♣ and clinches the Main Event bracelet for Hachem. Hachem takes home a $7,500,000 million payday with the win, topping a field of 5,619 players.

Another Seven-Figure Score for Hachem

Our next hand featuring Joe Hachem plays out at the 2006 WPT Doyle Brunson North American Poker Classic. Hachem and Jim Hanna are the final two remaining in the $15,000 Main Event (hand begins at 18:42):

Hanna looks down at Q♣ J♣ to begin the hand, with the blinds at 120,000/240,000. Hanna opens to 720,000, and Hachem three-bet shoves for 12,500,000 with A♠ 6♣. Hanna doesn’t take long to make the call, committing his 4,900,000 stack into the middle.

Hachem has Hanna covered going into essentially a coin flip for the WPT title. The board runs out A♣ Q♦ 3♦ 8♣ 2♦, and Hachem clinches his second career seven-figure score. With the win, Hachem pulled off the rare feat of winning both the WSOP Main Event and a WPT Main Tour title.

Joe Hachem’s Journey to Poker’s Pinnacle

Hachem entered the 2005 WSOP as a relatively unknown name in the US. Hachem was a regular presence on the Melbourne live poker scene in his home country, however, posting 11 tournament cashes on Australian soil from 2000-2005.

In perhaps a sign of things to come later in the series, Hachem finished just outside the final table of the $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em event at the 2005 WSOP. His tenth-place finish yielded a $25,580 cash, but a much bigger payout awaited Hachem later in the series.

The 2005 WSOP Main Event drew 5,619 players, by far the biggest Main Event ever at the time. Hachem advanced to a Main Event final table that included poker pros like Mike Matusow, Andy Black, and Aaron Kanter.

Hachem ended up going head-to-head with recreational player Steve Dannenmann for the championship in one of the more memorable heads-up finales in WSOP Main Event history. Most of Hachem’s $12.7 million in career tournament cashes came from his Main Event win, which resulted in a $7.5 million payday.

Only six players in poker history can claim both a WSOP Main Event title and a WPT Main Tour Championship. Hachem’s name is on that list, as he took down the 2006 WPT Doyle Brunson North American Poker Classic for $2,207,575.

Hachem came up just short of a second WSOP bracelet at the 2006 series, finishing runner-up in the $2,500 Short-Handed No-Limit Hold’em event.

Australian Poker Icon

Hachem’s WSOP Main Event victory vaulted him into celebrity status in his native Australia. The final table of the 2006 Main Event stands as one of the most memorable in WSOP history, with a boisterous contingent of Hachem supporters consistently chanting “Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oi, Oi, Oi!”

The Australian Poker Hall of Fame inducted Hachem in 2009. Hachem sits at No. 1 on the Australia all-time tournament earnings list according to the Hendon Mob database.

Hachem is still one of the most recognizable faces on the US poker circuit as well. He’s cashed at the World Series of Poker at least once in 15 consecutive years, as he remains a regular presence at the world’s largest poker festival each summer in Las Vegas.