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April 10, 2007 12:30am
By Brad Clifton
The Sunday Mail, AU
-Series of threatening phonecalls
-Hachem has relocated his family
-Champ has won almost $10 million to date
FORMER world poker champion Joe Hachem has revealed concerns for his family's security have forced him to move house.
After a series of threatening telephone calls and letters, Mr Hachem, 41, was not willing to gamble with his family's safety and relocated them.
"We've just bought a house recently, more for security reasons because my address was public knowledge," Mr Hachem said.
"You get a few phone calls, you get a letter in the mail and you think, 'You know what, I don't need this'."
He admitted he had "unfortunately" experienced a number of threats since his life-changing win at the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas in 2005.
Mr Hachem was speaking before the final of the PokerStars.com European Poker Tour in Monte Carlo last week - one of about eight major international poker tournaments he competes at each year.
Since winning almost $10 million in the World Series of Poker main event two years ago, life has been "a whirlwind" for the former chiropractor and mortgage broker, who now divides his time between Melbourne and Las Vegas.
He is often accompanied on his poker trips by his wife Jeannie and their four children, aged between 11 and 16.
Mr Hachem admitted to being "naive" after he won the poker world's biggest prize, believing he would return to a normal suburban life.
"It was definitely life changing, but the funny thing is I didn't expect it," he said.
"I just thought I'd be world champion, get a nice endorsement and go back to my normal life. Bulls..t, there's nothing normal about my life these days."
Mr Hachem travels to Las Vegas next week to compete in the World Poker Tour championship event. |
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发表于 2007-4-11 01:23
