Joe Awada, born as Yehia Awada in Lebanon, on the 12th of March, 1958, spent his childhood with his family in Beirut. As a teenager he moved to the United States, working as a juggler and currently lives in Las Vegas, Nevada. He learned how to play Five-Card Stud with friends when he was little, in a time of relative peace, until political tensions began to swell in the early 1970s. Sensing that a Civil War was about to break loose, Joe's mother made a tough decision to send her son to America to live with her brother. She had to return to Lebanon, but left her 13-year-old boy seeking his fortune and trying for a better life in the “land of opportunities”.
Arriving in the new world, his only perspective was to work at the circus with his uncle, who was a concession stand for the Rigling Brothers Circus. Joe Awada was not too happy about it, but since he had just arrived, he did not have a lot of options. In an interview in 2007 about his first immigration days, Awada says himself: “School wasn't an option, so I had to go work. And the only job that I could have found easily and quickly was working with my uncle.”
Though, his first American stop was at the U.S. immigration office in New York, for years after his arrival Joe Awada couldn't hold himself in one place long enough. In his life home was a stateroom on the circus train, but since he was there anyway, though, Joe Awada watched and learned. A juggler in the circus named the Grand Picasso caught his attention and so, at fourteen, Awada set a plan in motion to find his own way into the spotlight.
Traveling aroud the country for days was when he started visiting casinos. But poker was just an entertainment for him at the time - nothing serious, besides Joe Awada was busy performing and practicing. While away touring with the group, he ended up in a serious car crash and needed physiotheraphy. So he had more time to spend in poker. Working on his skills and moves, Joe was noticed by one of the casino managers and got an offer for a dealer, since he was no longer a circus performer. It didn’t take long before everybody noticed Joe’s talent and it only took a week for him to learn to deal, and after a month he was already dealing better than the others in the casino. "It's all in the wrists" he says.
Joe Awada's first year cashing at theWorld Series of Poker tournament came in 2004 and would be his best result ever. That year he took home a golden bracelet too, and a $221,000 prize in the Seven-Card Stud Championship as well as a second place finish and $156,320 in the $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em event. His success was growing, but it did not bring him as much pleasure as expected. So Joe continued his accomplishments at the Legends of Poker $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em Championship by finishing at fifth place for $132,300.
After that he made it to the final table in a handful of tournaments throughout 2005 - including a fifth-place result in the Seven-Card Stud championship.Unfortunately, Joe Awada failed to improve his scores from 2004. Once again cashing at the 2006 WSOP, Awada finished 14th twice in both the $5,000 Short-Handed No-Limit Hold'em event and the $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em event.
Joe Awada often says that respect and appreciation is all he is fighting for. Despite that, though, he is often described as unpredictable, devoted and sometimes even aggressive. But his closest ones claim he is a caring and loving person. Joe Awada is married with six children, and he sometimes lets his family go to the table with him. Maybe they are his lucky charm? As of 2008, his total live tournament winnings exceed $1,000,000 and he plans to achieve even more with years.