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Behold the new poker wunderkind. Jeff Madsen, a 21-year-old college student had been old enough to play in a regular casino for just five weeks when he turned up at the World Series and obliterated everything in his path. Four final tables, two bracelets, $1.5 million… Doesn’t this kid make you sick? Ladies and gentlemen, meet poker’s newest superstar.
Jeff. The age-old question: How did you get involved with poker? Where did you pick it up?
I started playing poker the summer before I went to college. My friend taught me how to play and we played just for fun. Like most young guys, we would drink a beer and play some cards. When I got into college, I started playing at a small Indian casino and I also developed my game a little bit online. I started playing Limit Hold’em and quickly moved up into a $2-$5 No Limit Hold’em game. That soon became my main game, although I did start to mix in a lot of tournaments as well.
There are a lot of rumors floating around about how you raised the cash to play in this year’s WSOP. We heard you threw your entire bankroll into the Omaha 8/b tournament, in which you finished third. Give us the skinny.
Well, to start, I didn’t really have a bankroll. I had borrowed money from my parents to enable myself to play in six WSOP events. My initial goal was to make the money back and cash in two events. Five of the events I had picked were Hold’em tournaments and the sixth was the $1,500 Omaha 8/b. I had played a fair amount of Omaha and thought that I was a pretty skilled player and that I would have a decent shot at cashing in this event if things fell into place right.
You did a bit better than just cashing, young man; you made your first World Series final table and came in third place.
It’s just crazy. It’s a crazy feeling making a final table. Once we started playing, that feeling of “I’m just happy to be here!” wore off and I wasn’t nervous at all. I just played my game. I thought I played really well, too. I came in as the chip leader and thought I had a great shot of winning it. Actually, I still think that I could have won it. Daniel Negreanu was at the table, so that was very cool, and I was lucky enough to scoop a few big pots from him. There was one hand in particular, when I hit the third nut flush and the nut low. Daniel had the straight and the second nut low. That hand crippled him, and after that pot I didn’t play many more hands with him. It was really cool, though, that he was at that final table.
So now you’ve paid your parents back and you’re freerolling.
Definitely! Ninety-seven thousand was beyond all expectations. I was able to play a few more tournaments because of my success, but it still wasn’t enough to warrant buying into the Main Event. I told myself that if I make another high finish, then I’ll play in the Main Event.
That takes us nicely to your first bracelet. Was this the next tournament you played?
I played in a few tournaments in between the two final tables. The $2,000 NL event was actually scheduled to be the last tournament that I played in if I didn’t cash. Luckily for me, everything just seemed to fall right into place. It was smooth sailing. I was chip leader for most of the tournament and was never really down. I came into the final table in fourth or fifth place. Because I had already made a final table, the nerves weren’t as intense. No Limit is my game, so I knew I was in good shape. There were a few recognizable names, such as Julian Gardner and John Shipley, but no one who intimidated me. I can’t describe what a great feeling it was to win the bracelet. It was totally unreal; like a dream you have that comes to life.
Poker players know how to party hard when they win. Did you and your friends go out celebrating?
We went out, but we didn’t party as much as I would have liked, since most of my friends weren’t there. I think there were three of us in total out partying.
So you missed out on a huge celebration. I guess that was a key reason to go out and grab number two right away…
I think there was one tournament in between that I busted out of pretty early. I wouldn’t have even played in the 5k shorthanded event if I hadn’t won the bracelet a few nights earlier. But it just seemed like such a great tournament – shorthanded with some great players! The level of play was definitely a lot higher.
By this tournament you had made quite a name for yourself. Did you feel that people were gunning for you?
No. Mostly, people were congratulating me. I like to think of myself as a pretty nice guy. It was all good. We just played poker.
You had a tough field at the final table…
Yeah, I came into the final table in last place, but with the structure the way it was, I was fine. I wasn’t worried at all. Even though I was shortstacked, I was still playing for first place, but at the same time, you can’t be stupid about it. I did wait it out a bit, and played pretty tight, but it was mostly because I was card dead. It seemed that when I did enter a pot for a raise, I would just take down the blinds and antes. Erick Lindgren was doing a fine job eliminating most of the players at the table.
You went heads up with EDog. What was it like playing Erick? He was hungry for his first bracelet and you were already battling for your second in a week...
Playing heads up with Lindgren was awesome. It was actually the scenario I was looking for. I knew when I was short stacked that Erick was probably the strongest player at the table, and my goal was to get heads up with him. I think we have a similar style of play, so it made for an interesting match-up.
The big hand for me was doubling-up with pocket eights versus his A-K. The hand played itself; there is no way either of us could fold there. That hand gave me the chip lead. Prior to that, my goal had just been to chip away, but after I doubled-up, I think the match was over in under twenty hands. I could tell he was trying to making something happen, and every time he did, I seemed to wake up with a hand that I was able to counter with. After the swing pot, I think I won all but one hand or so.
Your WSOP accomplishments ran the gamut, with final tables in Stud, Omaha, Shorthanded NL Hold’em and, of course, NL Hold’em. What can you possibly do to top this?
I really don’t know. I guess I’ll just keep on playing poker. I plan on playing the circuit, the WPT events... I may be playing Poker Superstars and the Heads-Up Championship, but I have one year left in college, and initially I said I was going to go back, but it’s going to be really tough. It’s not too often an opportunity like this presents itself. So I may try to play the big events while going to school. I’m in film, so my curriculum is pretty loose.
Any plans on putting together a little movie on your WSOP experience?
I would love to, actually…
Who would you cast to play the role of Jeff Madsen?
It’s funny, because we were talking about this before and we came up with Topher Grace. (Thinks) Maybe, if he dyed his hair blonde.
OK, big question. Can you make it happen again during the Main Event?
My goal is to cash. To say I’m planning on making a final table is ridiculous. But there will be a lot of bad players out there, so you never know.
Can you give some pointers to Bluff readers who are planning on going out to next year’s WSOP for the first time?
I would have to say the biggest piece of advice I could give is don’t be intimidated. Everybody gets two cards. Have no fear with your betting, stick with your reads, and be aggressive. It doesn’t matter who I’m in a pot with, I am always relentlessly aggressive.
Do you think you can go back to living a normal life now?
My cell phone is ringing non-stop. I have ESPN and Bluff Poker Radio on the phone all the time. It’s kind of crazy. It’s fun, but its getting to the point where it’s very stressful having to talk to people all the time. I guess it’s one of those things that you just have to deal with.
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