WSOP Winner Joe HachemBEHIND EVERY GREAT MAN IS A WONDERFUL WOMAN!
By Bob Acton of Aces Poker
When the dust finally settled last week at the World Series of
Poker a new champion was crowned and that was 39-year old Australian
Joe
Hachem. For those of you who have had your head stuck in the
sand, this mortgage broker won $7.5 million and now is besieged
with endorsement offers on literally an hourly basis.
One thing that becomes very clear when you read the journey that a champion has taken, whether it be Lance Armstrong, Michael Jordan or many others is that along the way, there were some setbacks and obstacles to overcome.
Like both Armstrong and Jordan a female played a vital role in his championship quest and in Hachem’s case it was his wife of 16 years and mother of four children Jeannie Hachem.
This week he was joined in his suite at the exclusive Wynn Casino by Jeannie, his wife of 16 years, and their four children.
An emotional Hachem said he could not have beaten the best players in the world without the support of his wife.
He said he would speak to his wife every night during the tournament and she told him "you're destined for this – don't give up".
With a glass of Moet champagne in her hand, Jeannie Hachem said she knew her husband was going to have a big poker win.
"I always said to Joe, `one day you are going to make it', but I didn't think this soon, though," she said.
"I'm still in shock, you have no idea. It really hasn't sunk in yet – I can't comprehend it, it's too much."
The Hachems plan to spend the winnings on their children's education and helping family members.
"This now means I can look after my family," Hachem said.
"Family is it for me, it's the start and finish. There are a lot of people in the family that I have wanted to help, that need help."
The road has been anything but smooth for Hatchem, since he arrived in Australia with his family from Lebanon in 1972. Several members of his family passed away due to illness and even Joe suffered a depilating blood disorder that forced him to give up his life long passion as chiropractic.
So distraught was Hatchem that he must give up his 18 years of practice that he was forced to seek counseling for 12 months.
He took a job as a mortgage broker to make ends meat and support his family and practice poker online, not knowing that his life was about to change forever.
When he won the big payday there were rumors that the blood sucking Internal Revenue Service of Australia was going to try and take $4.6 million of his winnings, because the law states that if your earnings are the result of your profession, then it is taxable income.
Accountant Tony Hachem is managing his brother's affairs and spent the past week dealing with commercial and media inquiries from Africa, the Middle East, Europe and the US, as well as establishing that his brother was not liable for tax in Australia because he was not a professional gambler.
Since his win, Hachem has been careful to surround himself only with relatives, including his brother, Tony, and cousin, Billy Sukkar, who were at his side for the tournament and supplied him with double espressos to keep him awake during his 14-hour days.
You would think that “Starbucks” would jump on this opportunity to promote the benefits of “Espressos”!
*some information supplied by Nick Pappas
|
