Final Table Takedown -- Jeff Madsen

Jeff Madsen Stands Firm With Strong Reads

Jeff Madsen was born in Santa Monica, California, and attended the University of California, Santa Barbara. In 2006, he made history at that time by becoming the youngest World Series of Poker bracelet winner, in a $2,000 no-limit hold’em event. He would go on to take down a second bracelet that year by winning the $5,000 shorthanded no-limit hold’em event. He has more than $3 million in career tournament winnings, and is a Full Tilt Poker pro.

Event: 2010 Borgata Poker Open
Players in the Event: 766
Buy-in: $3,300
First Prize: $625,006
Finish: First

Hand No. 1
Stacks Jeff Madsen – 4,500,000 Tom Marchese – 3,000,000
Blinds 60,000-120,000
Antes 10,000
Players at the Table 4

Hand No. 1
Key Concepts: Preflop reads; stack sizes; position; board texture

Madsen raises to 275,000 from the button with the A A. Tom Marchese reraises to 650,000 from the big blind.

Craig Tapscott: Did you have a strong read on Marchese’s play at this point of the final table?

Jeff Madsen: Well, it’s easy to get a better read on another player when you have a good hand. You can really study the other player and not be concerned about him studying you back, because you’re not worried about looking nervous. You’re just hoping that you can make yourself look nervous or weak. So, when Tom three-bets, I have to figure out if he’s strong or weak.  

CT: What will determine the appropriate response for you?

JM: Well, if he seems strong, I will go ahead and reraise. Clearly, if he’s strong, I want us to get all the chips in preflop. However, I read him as being rather weak. Even if I have no read, I know that he will be semi-weak here a lot of the time. This is because he knows that I’m raising light, and he’s very capable of a three-bet from out of position. So, it seemed correct to flat-call, knowing that he would continuation-bet almost every flop.

Flop: 7 5 4 (pot: 1,400,000)

JM: The flop is a bit scary for A-A. But based on my preflop read, I figured that he had two random overcards, and only occasionally would have flopped a pair or a draw on this board.

Marchese bets 410,000.

CT: How do you perceive this bet-sizing?

JM: This small bet looks weak, and only confirms my read that he most likely has two overcards. At this point, I don’t put him on a pair or a draw.

CT: And you said the board texture concerned you.

JM: Yes. I definitely didn’t want to just call, or to raise to something like 1 million and give him room to move all in with some kind of draw or pair-draw combo. So, I figured that the pot was now big enough, and it was important to protect my hand.

Madsen moves all in. Marchese folds. Madsen wins the pot of 1,810,000.

JM: I expected a fold, and if he had some sort of draw, I gave him a chance to fold it and not risk losing a huge pot. Later, Tom told me that he had J-8 offsuit. So, playing it slower certainly could’ve let him catch up and hit the 6.

Hand No. 2
Key Concepts: Adjusting an opponent’s hand ranges as the hand progresses

Madsen raises to 375,000 from the cutoff with the 4 4. Barkley Hamilton reraises to 900,000 from the big blind.

JM: When he reraises me out of position, I definitely don’t like the situation. I knew that Barkley was a decent player, but not so strong that I felt like I would get outplayed too often.

CT: Please be more specific.

JM: I had seen Barkley play tight in some spots, but in other hands, he was a little less disciplined. When he reraised me here, I wasn’t convinced that his hand was very strong, but I also did not want to get my stack in preflop with a small pair. So …

Madsen calls.

CT: Are you only set-mining here?
JM: Well, I called to see a flop — not to flop a set, but to hopefully get a little more information about his range. At this point, I put him on a decent hand, but not a huge one — something like A-J or A-Q. I actually put him on ace high over a pair in this spot.

Flop: 9 5 3 (pot: 1,960,000)
Barkley checks.

JM: If he had bet out on the flop, I believe that I was going to move in, going with my read. When he checks the flop, I now believe there’s a good chance that I’m ahead. But I wasn’t 100 percent sure of how capable he was of three-betting preflop and then slow-playing a huge hand. I didn’t want to bet and get raised off the hand. My read was that he had overcards, and I knew which turn cards I would need to avoid. Also, if he actually was checking a big pair, I would rather take one card off and see a turn that could improve my hand and make the play of the hand easier: A 2, 4, 6, and 7 all would be good cards for my hand.

Madsen checks.
Turn: 10 (pot: 1,960,000)

JM: In my mind, the 10 did not affect the hands very much. If he had me beat on the flop, he still had me beat. If he didn’t, I thought there was very little chance that the 10 improved his hand, although he possibly could have A-10, based on my preflop read.

Barkley bets 900,000.

JM: At this point, based on the board texture, I wasn’t going to fold to one bet here. I still felt some preflop weakness, and it wasn’t exactly clear to me if his flop check was legitimate or a trap. The turn bet could be a cheap stab at the pot, and it wasn’t necessarily a bet that committed him. Also, the turn put two hearts on the board, so he could have picked up the nut-flush draw and be betting that, which would make sense with this line.  

CT: Time to fold?

JM: I can’t fold without a strong read that I’m beat. I didn’t want to raise, either, and commit my tournament life. At this point, it was about 50-50 in my mind as to whether or not I was good, and I didn’t figure to have a tough decision on the river. I would fold if he bet again, as he didn’t seem like the type of player who would want to risk so much by bluffing in this spot on the turn and the river.

Madsen calls.
River: 4 (pot: 3,760,000)

CT: Wow!

JM: Yeah. The river is gin.

Barkley bets 1,300,000.

JM: Now it’s clear to me that he isn’t bluffing, and I figure that he has a big pair — K-K or A-A. He played the flop well to get me to commit on the turn, and to get me to commit on the river, as well. Now, I have to get full value and shove in my stack, hoping that he has just an overpair, and not a higher set.
 
Madsen moves all in. Barkley calls, and reveals the 3 3. Madsen wins the pot of 7,920,000.

JM: When I saw his hand, I was actually pretty surprised. His preflop three-bet actually confused me into putting him on a range that really didn’t include a small pair. He made a good check on the flop, as he knew that I was an aggressive player and he didn’t want to blow me out of the pot right away. This hand is an example of how a read needs to change as a hand progresses. Because his line confused me, I wanted to control the pot on the flop and try to get to the river without putting much more in. If he had checked the turn, too, I would’ve bet the turn, to protect my hand from overcards. When he led out on the turn, I couldn’t fold based on the previous action. The river was simply a lifesaver, and a cooler in my favor.