Joe Hachem’s name has been synonymous with the title of poker king in Australia since 2005. That year, Hachem won the World Series of Poker Main Event and became the highest poker earner in the Land Down Under.
He went home with US$7.5 million (approximately AU$10.3 million), which made him an Australian poker star for the last 16 years. However, his reign came to an end thanks to Michael Addamo.
Addamo, a professional poker player from Melbourne, participated at the Super High Roller Bowl VI in Las Vegas from September 27 to 29. The three-day event took place at the PokerGo studio at Aria.
Addamo’s rise to the top was not easy as he had to take down some tough competition like Alex Foxen, Daniel Negreanu, David Peters, and Seth Davies. The event’s prize pool was $5.2 million, and it attracted 21 entries.
What’s more, the Aussie had to go head-to-head with three-time Super High Roller Bowl champion Justin Bonomo. Overcoming Bonomo is not an easy task, so Addamo added a great win to his resume.
However, this event was not enough to put Addamo at the top of the list. He participated in two more poker tournaments and shined at both, taking the top spot at the $50,000 and $100,000 Poker Masters high rollers. The two wins brought him the title of the series overall champion and a purple jacket.
His extraordinary run started on September 17 with the $50,000 buy-in event at the Poker Go Masters. He went on to beat 34 opponents, including Jason Koon and Alex Foxen, ranked second and fourth, respectively.
A mere day later, Addamo managed to win the $100,000 buy-in event in the same series. This win brought him $1.16 million.
However, the $3.42 million win at the Super High Roller Bowl tournament propelled him to the top. The $300,000 buy-in event brought him the unexpected title of the highest-earning poker champ in Australia.
The Aussie has won over $5.1 million since September 17. With his Super High Roller Bowl prize money, Addamo has surpassed Hachem. With the wind at his back, Addamo plans to participate in the entire WSOP tournament, including some of the top buy-ins. The Main Event will take place on November 4.
Addamo has previous experiences at the WSOP — he won two bracelets in 2018. The first came from the $2,620 buy-in Marathon event at WSOP, while the second arrived right after at the WSOP Europe in the €25,500 Super Highroller event.
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