Australian poker champion trumps tax collector

Thu Dec 22, 2005 SYDNEY (Reuters) - An Australian world poker champion has played the perfect hand -- against the tax collector.

Mortgage broker Joe Hachem won US$7.5 million (4.3 million pounds) in the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas in July this year, setting up a high-stakes showdown with the Australian Taxation Office.

In Australia, a professional gambler is liable to pay tax on offshore winnings, but Hachem's lawyer said poker was his hobby, not his profession.

"He was a full-time mortgage-broker and poker was a pursuit," lawyer Peter Donovan said on Thursday. "He was doing about four or five hours a week, just like we would play tennis or watch TV."

But the next time Hachem sits down with the tax collector, he may have to fold his hand. Poker is now a much bigger part of his life. Asked if Hachem's next windfall was likely to be taxed, Donovan said: "I've got the feeling that he probably will."