Aussie, Aussie, Aussie

The 2006 WSOP machine is churning on as this is written, with poker players pounding the floors of the Rio All Suite Hotel Casino, dashing from the tournament room on dinner breaks to snag a bite to eat, and then dashing back to live out their dreams. Last year the ultimate beneficiary of the Dream Machine was one Joseph Hachem, a former chiropractor from Australia who brought along his own cheering section.

Joe stopped using his magic fingers to adjust spines when a genetic condition that affected his nerves told him it was time to move on. Fortunately for Joe and his family, his fingers, and his brain, were adept at another kind of magic; making money playing poker. After years of perfecting his style, and after his kids were old enough to do without Dad for a bit, Joe and his brother and pals flew around the world to Las Vegas to give it a go. From the beginning Joe was a stand out, not in small part due to the crowd of supporters chanting “Aussie! Aussie! Aussie! Oy! Oy! Oy!” every time he made a good play. The obnoxious factor was quelled every time when Joe would laugh and shake his head— you really wanted to like Joe, and he was really likable.

Then he went on and won the whole shooting match. Yet again a “no name” blew past the pros to take the brass ring (or gold bracelet in this case.) To further deepen the story of Joe Hachem, when he returned to Australia his lawyers managed to smooth things over with the Tax Agency Down Under, classifying his winnings under a law that says that no taxes have to be paid on money made performing a “hobby.”

Despite this, or perhaps because of this, Tax Free Joe is something of a target at the WSOP. Everyone would love to bust out the current champ. Everyone would love to say he “just got lucky” the first time around. If asked, Joe would likely admit to a certain amount of luck; one can’t win a major event without it, not with the numbers playing these days. But recently Joe took a huge step forward in the respect department: he took second place in Event 5.

The $2,500 Short Handed No Limit event was dominated by Dutch Boyd around the time the final table kicked things off on Day Three. Joe was one of the only players who seemed unafraid to mix it up with the chip leader, and in the end it was down to just the two of them. Hachem was poised to double up, and perhaps repeat his performance at the final table last year by coming from behind to win, but a lone five appeared on the river to pair up Dutch and give him the win.

Still, second place is good enough to show the world that Joe Hachem really does know how to play poker. Will he be good enough to do what only a few have ever done— win back to back WSOPs? Let’s tune in together and find out.