AUTHOR: Jerry "Jet" Whittaker TITLE: Fear forces poker champ to flee DATE: 7:07 AM ----- BODY: 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." --------