A Family Affair: Three Hachems Reach Day 3 of the Aussie Millions Main Event

At the 2026 Aussie Millions Main Event in Melbourne, there was a good chance a Hachem was sitting at your table. Joe Hachem, his brother Tony and his son James all made it through to Day 3 at Crown Melbourne, turning the biggest event on the Australian calendar into a family outing.

Three Hachems on Day 3

Joe Hachem has been the face of Australian poker since he won the 2005 WSOP Main Event. At this year's Aussie Millions he had company. His brother Tony and his son James both survived the opening days alongside him, giving the family three players on Day 3 of the Main Event.

Joe and James both made the money. Tony came close but bowed out just before the bubble burst. According to Joe, the family had a simple game plan for the week: if one Hachem doesn't get you, another one will.

About the Aussie Millions

The Aussie Millions, held at Crown Melbourne, is the biggest and most famous poker festival in Australia and one of the best-known in the Southern Hemisphere. Its Main Event has long been the centrepiece of the Australian poker calendar, and over the years it has attracted many of the world's top players, including champions such as Gus Hansen. Crown Melbourne, one of the largest casino complexes in the country, has been its home throughout its history.

Australia's poker scene has a distinctive shape. Since changes to federal law in 2017, real-money online poker has been effectively unavailable to Australian players, which has made live events like the Aussie Millions even more important. Tony Hachem's comments about strong growth since the COVID years reflect that: for many Australian players, live tournaments are now the main way to play the game.

James Hachem: playing with Dad right behind him

For James, this was a rare tournament appearance. He says he only plays live events every few years, so making a deep run in the Main Event with his father and uncle in the same room was a big moment. It also came with some extra pressure. On Day 3 he was seated at the table right next to his father's, and he admitted he was nervous about making a mistake that Joe would see.

James described the experience of playing alongside his father and uncle as "very, very cool."

Joe Hachem's Legacy

Joe Hachem's 2005 WSOP Main Event victory, won from a field of more than 5,600 players for $7.5 million, made him the first Australian to win poker's world championship and a national celebrity almost overnight. Coming at the height of the global poker boom, his win inspired a generation of Australian players, many of whom went on to become major names on the international circuit. Two decades later, he remains the country's best-known poker figure, and his continued presence at events like the Aussie Millions is a big part of their appeal for local players.

He has kept winning too. This month he also picked up a title at the Victorian Poker Championship, also at Crown, showing that his game remains competitive against a new generation of players who learned largely through online training and solvers.

The rest of the family

The poker connections in the Hachem family go further. Joe's son Daniel finished runner-up at the 2024 WSOP, but he missed this year's Aussie Millions because he was in Los Angeles. Another son, Anthony, was at Crown but played the $2,500 event instead of the Main Event.

What Day 3 Means

Reaching Day 3 of a major Main Event is a significant achievement in itself. By that stage, most of the field has been eliminated, the blinds and antes are much higher, and the money bubble is close to bursting. For Tony Hachem, falling just short of the money after surviving that long was a painful way to end his run; for Joe and James, making the cash added a guaranteed return and the chance to go deeper. In a field the size of the Aussie Millions Main Event, even getting that far requires both skill and good fortune.

Tony Hachem on the growth of Australian poker

Tony Hachem is more than a player. He is one of the leading figures behind the Australian Poker Tour (APT), which partnered with the Aussie Millions for 2026. He was full of praise for his brother's role in promoting the game.

Tony also pointed out how much the local live tournament scene has grown since the COVID years, and he thanked the Crown Melbourne team for running the festival, mentioning Harold and Daniel by name.

Crown's poker calendar has become busier as a result, with festivals such as the Victorian Poker Championship running alongside the Aussie Millions and the APT partnership bringing more events and qualifiers to Melbourne. For local players, that means more opportunities to play big events without leaving the country — and for the Hachems, more chances to keep the family name on the leaderboards.

The family's run also offered a reminder of how strong Australian live poker remains. Large fields at Crown, an experienced pool of local professionals and a steady stream of newcomers have kept the scene healthy, and figures like Joe and Tony Hachem continue to play a central role in promoting it, both at the tables and behind the scenes.

A Family Affair

Poker families are not unusual, but having three members of the same family reach Day 3 of a major Main Event is rare. For the Hachems, it also illustrates how the family's involvement in the game now spans two generations, with Joe, his brother Tony and his sons all active in tournament poker. For Australian fans, seeing the family name repeatedly on the chip counts was one of the stories of the 2026 Aussie Millions.