Online poker room PokerStars.com recently added 2005 World Series of Poker (WSOP) champion Joe Hachem to its growing list of sponsored players. Hachem, of Melbourne Australia, took home $7.5 million dollars and the coveted gold bracelet after besting a record field of 5,618 players at this year's WSOP main event.
Hachem joins 2003 and 2004 WSOP champions Chris Moneymaker and Greg Raymer, among others, on Team PokerStars, giving the site what it is referring to as the "Triple Crown of World Champions." Hachem has said he considers it an honor to be in their company. A little math - the members of this triumvirate have won $15 million in prize money and three gold bracelets between them.
Unlike Moneymaker and Raymer, who won their seats through PokerStars.com, Hachem entered the WSOP main event on his own coin. However, he still credits the website, of which he has been a member since 2001, with improving his skills, and says it was a fellow Aussie winning a seat on Stars that encouraged him to attend to the 2005 WSOP in the first place.
Already an ambassador for poker and his native Australia, Hachem will fly exclusively under the PokerStars.com flag as he continues on the tournament trail in the coming year.
Other members of Team PokerStars include, WPT Ladies Night II Champion Isabelle Mercier, Evelyn Ng, and 1983 WSOP Champion Tom McEvoy.
By Scott Huff
