PokerStars is one of the most well-known online poker sites today, and it is definitely the largest out there currently. Those are two of the key reasons that make this bit of news so shocking to many people. Joe Hachem, who is one of the most popular and well-known poker players in the world, was one of the biggest Team PokerStars Pros on their site. This was until we found out today that Hachem has decided not to resign any sponsorship deal with the massive online poker site.
Hachem had some incredible results in his career, but none was bigger than his win at the 2005 World Series of Poker Championship Event, which was one of the largest fields in WSOP history. The news was not negative for either side involved, as Hachem simply said that he was excited to “spend some downtime with my family”, and also to pursue “other career opportunities”. PokerStars on the other hand stated that they appreciated his time and that he was “terrific endorser” for the site.
What makes this news even more interesting is that PokerStars is fresh off of their decision to make a few other cuts to their roster, including well-known names like Tom McEvoy (World Championship winner in 1983), Dennis Phillips (2008 November Niner), and Bill Chen (two time gold bracelet winner). The site also failed to work out a deal with Greg “The Fossilman” Raymer not too long before that.
Simply put, Hachem’s results spoke for themselves. After winning the World Championship in 2005, he went on to pull in four cashes at the 2006 WSOP, including two final tables and a runner up finish in a No Limit Hold’em event that year. That wasn’t the end of the run for Hachem though, as he also won a World Poker Tour event before the year came to an end. As far as his total career numbers go, no one can shake their head at his top 10 total lifetime earnings of $11.4 million, and also the fact that he has won over six figures in every year since 2005.
Of course Hachem will be missed by the PokerStars community, but we assume that we’ll still be seeing quite a bit of him at the big time poker tournaments, and also hopefully still pulling out impressive results in the online poker world as well.