Joseph (Joe) Hachem was born in Lebanon in 1966 and moved with his family to Australia in 1972. At the age of 15, the former champ met his future wife who later became his high school sweetheart and with whom he now has four children.

During his teenage years, Hachem mainly played Manila poker and switched to Texas Hold 'em only after he watched poker flick "Rounders" in the mid-1990's. He decided to try his luck playing live for the first time at Melbourne's Crown Casino. Somewhere in the year 2000, after he was diagnosed with a blood vessel disease, he closed the chiropractic business he ran for 13 years. Still in need of permanent income to support his family, Hachem started working as a mortgage broker. At this point of his life, he was playing poker as a "semi-pro". He was a frequent visitor to Melbourne's casino and also played online at a prominent online poker destination Pokerstars.com.

Poker became Hachem's main occupation only in 2005 when Hachem traveled to Las Vegas along with two members of his family and $10,000 in his pocket. Hachem's first Sin City poker adventure was WSOP event #37, a $1,000 No-Limit Hold 'em with re-buys tournament, where he ended up in the 10th place and earned $25,850.

Nevertheless, this money was nothing compared to the first place prize of $7,500,000 he proudly collected after winning that year's WSOP. In order to obtain the coveted title of a World Series of Poker Champion, Hachem had to beat over 5,600 opponents, including runner-up Steve Dannenmann. Hachem won the Final Table event with a 7-3 straight off-suit, one of the worst possible starting hands in Texas Hold 'em.

Today, Hachem uses his new resources to travel around the globe in search for the ultimate poker challenge. A devoted family man, he is always accompanied by his wife and children. Among Hachem's favorite pastimes is playing an occasional game of golf and smoking a quality cigar.

At the 2006 WSOP, Hachem nabbed $42,882, and in defense of his title as the "Champion" outlasted 97.2% of the largest field in poker history. As of 2006, his total tournament winnings exceed $8,000,000.