2005 WSOP Main Event winner, Joseph Hachem, has become the fourth player in history to win both a WSOP and WPT Main Event.Following in the footsteps of renowned stars Doyle Brunson, Scotty Nguyen and Carlos Mortensen, the 40-year old Aussie achieved the feat just this week, defeating a 583 dense field to capture the $2,182,070 first prize and become the 2006 Five Diamond World Poker Classic Champion.
Since his bracelet winning performance in 2005, Hachem has proven to be far from a one hit wonder with two final table appearances at this year’s World Series, not to mention a 5th in a 2005 WSOP Circuit Event and a 3rd in the 2006 Melbourne Texas Hold'Em Championship in in his home country of Australia.
However, his latest accolade was by no means easy. Faced with a fierce final table, Hachem was up against proven players such as 2006’s Copenhagen EPT Champion, Mads Andersen, and High Stakes Poker frequenter, Daniel ‘Kid Poker’ Negreanu, the latter requiring a 5th place finish to surpass Tuan Le as the highest earning player in World Poker Tour history.
And if that wasn’t enough to impress the average onlooker, they only had to glance down at the cash list to understand how tough this field was. With the likes of Scott Fishman, Cyndy Violette, Lee Markholt and European hero and WSOP bracelet winner, Mats Rhamn, all taking home a minimum of $67,655, it was clear that winning this Event would be an impressive achievement indeed.
Heading into the final table, the former Chiropractor was in a strong position but underdog to Negreanu who held a foreboding chip lead of 4.6 million. Not too far behind him was Andersen with 4.3 million, then Hachem on 2.3 million with Edward Jordan, David Redlin and Jim Hanna (who wasn't going to play until after Day 1A) all bringing up the rear.With Jordan being the day’s first casualty, next to hit the rail, and to the dismay of the vast majority of the crowd, was Redlin winning $253,715, a quite remarkable result for someone who had qualified online for the paltry sum of $70.
With multiple WPT winner, Gus Hansen, supporting his fellow countryman from the sidelines, aggressive Danish player, Mads Andersen (left), was next to fall, his 7-6 suited no match for Negreanu’s A-4 of diamonds. Clearly disappointed not to have accrued another title, the EPT winner will surely be satisfied with his $380,630 prize.Although Negreanu has sealed his position as the WPT’s biggest cumulative casher, he couldn’t quite turn his starting day chip lead into a title victory, eventually succumbing to Hachem when his K-T failed to outdraw the Aussie’s Pocket Fours.
Heads-up, and it was almost neck and neck with Hanna holding a mere 1.5 million chip advantage.
Both with Lebanese origin, the two remaining survivors tussled back and forth before Hachem finally rose triumphant, his As-6c doing just about enough to see off Hanna’s Qc-Jc. All-in pre-flop, the board came a rather nerve-wracking Ac-Qd-3d-8c-2d, but it was good enough for Hachem who was the last man standing, taking home over 2 million dollars for his troubles.
With a buy-in of $15,000 and a prizepool of $8,482,650, the Five Diamond Classic provided evidence that, at the highest levels at least, poker has no interest in slowing down. And in Joe Hachem, we have a true ambassador to ensure that trend continues.