Let me admit right up front that this review hurts me to write. I really like Joe Hachem. I think his commitment to his family and his ethos of keeping poker in balanced perspective is exemplary. It’s not as exciting as, say, Stu Ungar dead in a sleazy hotel, but it’s a finer way to live. I also like the way Joe plays poker, and his trademark, “Pass the sugar!” will surely stand in the poker vernacular. This book, however, is simply anemic.
“Why anemic, Bob?” Well, for starters, *I* could have written this book. I’m about a 70th percentile player, according to OPR, so I’m no great shakes here. I, like you, am one of the faceless many, improving my game bit by bit, counting on the pearls of wisdom passed down by good people like Joe Hachem. But where are the pearls?
The book starts with a Foreword by Greg Raymer who represents www.PokerStars.net, interestingly, doesn’t actually discuss the book. If you read and review enough books, you get to recognize this as something of a red flag. Greg acknowledges what does appear to be a sincere and deep friendship with Joe, but he stops short of praising anything the man has actually said about the game.
The material content of the book doesn’t really get rolling until chapter II, which is in itself disconcerting in such a short book (126 pps). And what do we discover in this chapter? Hand rankings. Yes, the same chart of poker hand rankings that gets inserted into just about every deck of cards distributed on planet earth. Ok, perhaps I’m quibbling a bit, but again, it’s a short book, and what comes next is an absolute howler, the book’s first piece of real insider insight, about starting hands! Hachem himself says, “there is absolutely no question that this is the list, which is learnt by the greats” (p. 26, italics Hachem’s). Wow! Buckle up, kids. So, what does Joe have to say?
AA, KK, QQ, JJ, AKs.
That, dear reader, is just sad. Even Hellmuth has more interesting things to say about starting hand requirements. The guys from Japan I played with last night who had never even heard of poker before now have more insightful things to say about starting hand requirements.
To give Joe his fair due, he does put in some handy little tables which compare winning percentages of common pre-flop heads-up matchups and some standard odds/outs tables for post-flop play. Nothing new, but nicely organized. If you’ve played the game for longer than 3 to 6 months, this is very likely stuff you know, but I like the way Hachem sets up his tables. The have a nice intuitive quality to them which will probably help less mathematically oriented players.
The next part of the book rehashes the usual generic advice. Play position. Be aware of your chip count and your opponents’. If the table is loose, play tight. If the table is tight, play loose. Earth shattering insights, to be sure. If you want some really good insight on these matters, you’re far better off with Harrington or Snyder. If you’re a beginner just becoming aware of the importance of stack to blinds ratios (the variable usually known as “M”), Hachem simply doesn’t give you enough to help you actually employ M strategies effectively.
Essentially, on the book goes, making the reader dimly aware of the factors involved in advanced play in the form of bland little hors d’oeuvres, but there isn’t much of a meal, and you get to the end of the night hungrier than when you arrived. Nothing the book says is erroneous, but neither is it particularly incisive. Yes, you should prefer aggression over passivity. Yes, you should keep your poker bankroll separate from your life bankroll. Yes, you should control the pot using bet-sizing to try and induce errors from your opponents. And so on.
Joe obviously knows a lot about the game of poker. I’d gulp if he sat down at my table and probably just hand him my chips right away to avoid embarrassing myself. I mean, for the love of god, the man is a recent WSOP Main Event champion, and he’s played competitively for years.
Unfortunately, if this book is any indicator, his success secrets will die with him.
BaddBeatBobb’s Final Grade: D
Player Profile: Joe Hachem 2005 Winner of the World Series of Poker
One of the most prestigious poker tournaments in the brick and mortar world in the 21st century (and previously as well) is the World Series of Poker. The event draws thousands of enthusiastic poker players from the world over each and every year. Indeed, the 2005 World Series of Poker features over 5,600 dedicated participants.
The winner of the World Series of Poker 2005 tournament was Joe Hachem who endorses PokerStars. In winning in the World Series of Poker tournament in 2005, Hachen took home a record breaking prize of $7.5 million.
Brief Bio: Joe Hachem
Hachem is garnering the reputation as being one of the best poker players anywhere in the world. This perception of Hachem actually began to take hold even before his historic winnings in the 2005 World Series of Poker tournament. Many poker experts believe that Hachem will remain a force to be reckoned with on the tournament circuit for years to come.
Hachem was born in March, 1966, in Lebanon. As a boy, he moved with his family to Melbourne, Australia. (Australia remains his home today.)
Prior to taking up professional poker, Hachem was a practicing chiropractor in Australia. He saw patients until about a decade ago when he developed a rare blood disease that prevented him from effectively working with his patients. At that time, and in order to kill time, he took up playing poker as a hobby. According to a number of interviews he has given over the course of the past couple of years, he never envisioned the day that he would be playing poker professionally -- let along winning a large scale tournament like the World Series of Poker.
Hachem is married and has four children.
Joe Hachem and His Career as a Professional Poker Player
Prior to taking home the coveted World Series of Poker prize, Hachem played poker for a mere ten years. As mentioned, he took up poker at that time as a means of passing the time.
2005 actually marked Hachem’s first turn at play in the World Series of Poker. While it certainly is not heard of for a person to win such a large tournament his first time in the door, Hachem is marking territory as a very formidable player in the 21st century.
Hachem is the first Australian who has won the United States based World Series of Poker, although not the first non-U.S. citizen to take home the first place prize.
Joe Hachem and Online Poker Playing
Although Hachem is making his mark in the poker tournaments of the brick and mortar world, he has set his sites on the world of online gaming at PokerStars.com. According to Hachem himself: "I started in casinos (in the brick and mortar world). But, in the past two years, I’ve been playing online a lot."
Hachem made his remarks following his victory in the 2005 World Series of Poker competition. Hachem joins a growing number of poker professionals who have cut their card playing teeth in casinos the world over who are becoming more heavily involved in online poker playing and Internet based poker tournaments. At this point in time, Hachem spends at least some time each week playing poker online.
Hachem and other well known professional poker players are joining the literally thousands of men and women who are taking up poker playing online each and every year. With the tremendous rise in the number of people taking part in online poker, even large casino operators like Harrah’s are getting into the game. (Harrah’s has announced its intention to play a large role in the online casino market -- including poker -- on into the future.)
A growing number of poker enthusiasts (both professional and amateur) envision the day when online poker tournaments will in fact carry with them hefty prizes like the multi-million dollar purse offered in the World Series of Poker in 2005. Indeed, some insiders from the world of professional poker suggest that the day when Internet based tournaments will match the prizes found in the brick and mortar world is not all that far off.
At the present time, Hachem intends to continue playing poker professionally. (When not at the table, Hachem owns and operates a brokerage firm in Australia. He has no immediate plans to end that particular business despite his great success in poker in 2005.)
Hachem of PokerStars.de intends to continue to play in high profile tournaments -- both in the brick and mortar world and online.
According to interviews with Hachem his family remains the focus of his life. When asked what he sees himself doing down the road, he has replied simply (in multiple interviews):
"Look after my family, my mum, my kids."
Certainly, it goes without saying that a bright future is in the cards for Joe Hachem.
