Joseph Hachem seemed to come out of nowhere as he survived round after round of his very first World Series of Poker Main Event, going on to win the $7.5 million grand prize in 2005. He became an instant poker celebrity, but his rise to fame was actually more gradual than it appears.

Born in Lebanon on March 11, 1966, a young Hachem moved with his family to Melbourne, Australia, in 1972, where he has since married and raised a family of his own. Joe met his high school sweetheart, Jeanie, through family friends when he was 15 and she was 12.

The poker pro started playing the Manila version of poker for fun during his teenage years, and it wasn't until the mid-1990s after watching the movie Rounders that he switched to Texas Hold'em and decided to try his luck playing live at the Crown Casino in Melbourne.

Around the year 2000, after a rare blood vessel disorder in his hands forced him to quit his main passion, a chiropractic business he ran for 13 years, Joe began working as a mortgage broker and devoting more time to poker as a "semi-professional," playing regular live games in Melbourne and online at PokerStars.com.

The game became serious business in 2005 when the Aussie headed to Las Vegas with his brother, cousin, and $10,000 of his own money on a mission to win the "Big One." Hachem tested the waters in Vegas first by entering WSOP Event 37, a $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em with re-buys tournament held on July 4, where he placed 10th and earned $25,850.

His win turned out to be peanuts compared to the millions he won less than two weeks later on July 15 at the $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em World Championship final table, which he reached after beating the record-breaking 5,600-plus playing field. Hachem secured his championship with a 7-3 off-suit, one of the worst starting hands in poker. He was the first Australian to win the event and one of only four non-Americans to have won.

Now a millionaire many times over and a sponsored PokerStars.com player, the devoted family man to whom "nothing is more important than family" has the resources to travel to international tournaments with his wife and four children in pursuit of the best poker the world has to offer.

That pursuit has also led him to more cashes in the 2006 WSOP, as he made it to two final tables and cashed in events including the Main Event. 2006 also brought Joe a World Poker Tour title at the 2006 Doyle Brunson North American Poker Championship.

With that win, he joined the ranks of Doyle Brunson, Juan Carlos Mortenson and Scotty Nguyen as the only players to win a WSOP Main Event and a WPT championship title.

Poker doesn't dominate Hachem's life though. His newfound wealth has also given him the time to enjoy his other favorite activities: playing golf, eating a nice meal in a good restaurant and smoking a quality cigar in a nice bar.