The WWdN started around the same time on Tuesday as the final table of the Five Diamond Classic, so I kept PokerWire open in Firefox and sweated Joe Hachem the entire time I was playing.

I don't know Joe as well as I know Greg, but in the little time we've spent together, I've grown incredibly fond of him. He is truly a great guy, a wonderful ambassador for the game, and a very, very good poker player. He would have certainly picked up another bracelet in the 2006 WSOP if he hadn't gotten insanely unlucky, and I know from personal experience how important it can be to Prove To Everyone that one victory wasn't a fluke. Though I've learned not to get emotionally invested in a player (poker tourneys are cruel that way) I couldn't help it. I wanted Joe to win even more than I wanted to win the damn tourney I was playing in myself.

It was fantastic to watch Joe take down pots here and there, while Daniel Negreanu slowly bled his chip lead away. Now, the thing is, I personally like Daniel, but Joe and I are Teammates (he's like Joe Dimaggio and I'm Jimmy the retarded kid who gets to dump a pail of water on this one patch of grass every game, but we get to wear the same uniform, dammit!) so I was cheering for Joe the whole way. My cheering was made even more fun because my fellow writer (and good poker player, I will grudgingly admit) CarolP was cheering for her FCP BFF Daniel.

Ah, the trash talking was something to behold, especially when Joe eliminated Daniel to get heads up, but it was nothing compared to how awesome it was to see the update come across Pokerwire that Joe had won.

He picks up over two million dollars with the victory, but he should also pick up the respect of his peers (well, the last few holdouts, anyway) and that's something that you can't put a price tag on.

Well, maybe you can. How about $2.1 million?