AUSTRALIA'S world poker champion, Joe
Hachem, is on his way to becoming a very rich man.
Only days since winning the World Series of Poker, the former
Preston chiropractor is negotiating to triple his $10 million
winnings through a series of commercial contracts.
Hachem, a father
of four, has spent the past week in a $3600-a-night suite in Las
Vegas sifting through dozens of business proposals including a plan
to become Crown Casino's poker ambassador, an offer to star in a
series of TV commercials in the US, sponsorship from elite clothing
manufacturers and deals with internet gambling sites.
"I think I am
averaging two meetings a day with people," he said. "And we are
going to take everything into account. We are not going to knock
back anything at this stage."
"I'm no longer
Joe from Preston."
Last weekend,
Hachem, 39, beat 5619 poker players from throughout the world in a
nine-day Las Vegas competition and yesterday said he was quitting
his job as a mortgage broker to play up to six poker tournaments a
year overseas and the Aussie Millions at Crown in January.
"Poker is a
passion," he said. "It was a hobby."
Hachem was
joined in his exclusive Wynn Casino suite this week by his wife of
16 years, Jeannie, and their four children.
Emotional Hachem
said he could not have beaten the best players in the world without
his wife's support.
He said he was
"dying here without my family" and spoke to his wife every night
during the tournament. She had told him: "You're destined for this
tournament; don't give up."
With a glass of
champagne in her hand, Jeannie Hachem said she knew her husband was
going to have a big win.
"But I didn't
think it would be this soon," she said. "I'm still in shock, you
have no idea."
The Hachems said
they planned to spend the winnings on their children's education and
help other members of their family.
They arrived in
Australia from Lebanon in 1972 and have suffered several setbacks
including family deaths and a crippling blood disorder that forced
Hachem to give up his job as a chiropractor three years ago.
"I was having
counselling for 12 months," he said. "I was lost. Chiropractic was
my passion. I studied for five years and practised for 13 years."
Hachem said he
then turned to mortgage broking to make ends meet, but
"unfortunately I entered mortgage broking on the cusp of the
property downturn -- so it started off really well, but this last
year has been a real tough slog".
But today, Joe's
biggest problem is having to fend off the circling "sharks" in
Vegas.
"Everybody is
trying to spin me," he said. "There's this guy I met, just to say
hello, who suddenly wants to be my agent and I don't know him from a
bar of soap."
Tony Hachem, an
accountant, has taken over managing his brother's affairs.
Joe Hachem can
still not believe what he has won.
"Whatever time I
wake up, if it's the middle of the night or not, I just expect it to
be gone," he said.
The Hachems
expect to leave Las Vegas next week.
