WSOP Classic Moments – Joe Hachem Wins 2005 Main Event

The 2005 WSOP Main Event marked the end of an era. The World Series of Poker was sold to Harrah’s Entertainment in 2004 and all events were moved to the Rio All-Suites Hotel and Casino in 2005. The sole exception was the final table of the WSOP Main Event. The final table was to be held at Binion’s Horseshoe in downtown Las Vegas. Unfortunately, Harrah’s sold the property shortly after the 2005 WSOP Main Event and this was the final WSOP Event to be played at Binions.

The 2005 WSOP Main Event drew a record crowd of 5,619 players and created the largest first place prize in history to that point at $7.5 Million. The final table was headlined by one key poker personality, Mike “The Mouth” Matusow. Matusow was looking good to win, barring one of his famous blow-ups. Unfortunately, it was the cards that decided his fate as he was cold decked and received two bad beats to finish in 9th place. 9th place paid exactly $1 Million, which was equal to first place prize money for many years.

After Matusow’s elimination, the story came down to two players. The first was Steve Dannenmann, an amateur player that was literally “just happy to be there.” Dannenmann had won his way into the Main Event via a home game satellite where his buddies shared a piece of his winnings. The other player to make heads-up play was Joe Hachem. Hachem was a former chiropractor turned poker player. He was the short stack at the final table, but fought his way back to battle for the bracelet.

The final hand started with a raise pre-flop to 700,000 from Dannenmann. Hachem made the call with 7c-3s and Dannenmann was holding Ad-3c. The flop fell 6h-5d-4d, giving Hachem a straight and Dannenmann an open ended straight draw. Dannenmann bet out and Hachem check-raised to 1.7 Million. Dannenmann called and the turn fell the As. Hachem bet out 2 Million and Dannenmann raised to 5 Million. Hachem then moved all-in and Dannenmann made the call. The river fell the 4c and Joe Hachem had won the largest poker prize in the history of the Main Event, at least for another year anyway.

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