A Poker Life -- Jeff Madsen

By now, most of the poker community is familiar with the story behind Jeff Madsen’s rise to fame. For those who aren’t, here’s a quick recap — Madsen turned 21, borrowed $3,500 from his parents, planning to spend a total of $10,000 at the 2006 World Series of Poker to play in six events, and he ended up making four final tables with two bracelet wins, becoming the youngest bracelet winner of all time.

While that story has been written a thousand times, what hasn’t been written about all that often is the inside scoop on Madsen leading up to this point — how his sudden success changed his life while his personality away from the table remained intact. Who is the man behind the young poker sensation? For those who knew him as a kid, it isn’t surprising that he’s successful in any endeavor — including poker.

Growing Up

Madsen was born in Santa Monica, California, on June 7, 1985. He grew up with two loving parents and an older sister. Rambunctious and daring, Madsen immediately got into sports, baseball being the early favorite.

Madsen was naturally good at school and quickly found that despite putting forth minimal effort, he still produced decent grades.

“School was always easy, but I never tried that hard. I could have gotten straight A’s, but I was OK with doing as little work as possible.”

He continued to play baseball through high school, and despite the team camaraderie, Madsen admits feeling like a little bit of an outcast at times.

“I had a lot of different friends. I was never really cliquey, and I was kind of shy. High school was kind of tough for me in some ways, but looking back on it now, I remember a lot of good times.”

He may have been shy, but he didn’t lose his daring personality. In addition to baseball, Madsen spent much of his time skateboarding at local parks and ramps. He even used his moves in a Jackass rip-off video he and his friends shot. The amateur filmmaking was so entertaining that he decided that it was a possible career choice.

Poker

With high school in the dust and a new life studying film at the University of California, Santa Barbara, ahead of him, Madsen discovered poker.

“The first time I played was at my friend’s house the summer after we got out of high school. I remember liking it from the very beginning. I just wanted to play as much as I could.”

He continued playing with friends, and had a knack for the game immediately. Madsen became a regular in the local Indian casinos with considerable success at the stakes he played. Having watched the WSOP on TV for a couple of years, Madsen realized that the upcoming Series was just a little more than a month after his 21st birthday.

“I told my friends that I could be the youngest bracelet winner ever, and that I was going to try. I wasn’t being cocky, but I really felt like I could do it.”

Madsen scoped out the 2006 WSOP schedule and made notes of a few events he’d like to play. Playing a couple of events would be easy for him financially, but he thought having only a couple of shots at it would put too much pressure on him. Eventually, he decided he wanted to play six events, and he needed $10,000 to do it. He had a few extra thousand dollars in his college fund but was $3,500 short of what he needed. Madsen’s parents decided to cover that amount for him — talk about confident parents.

One of the greenest of them all, Madsen walked into the Series that year with confidence and swagger and immediately made a final table. He finished in third in the $2,000 buy-in Omaha eight-or-better event for $97,000. On the heels of his success, just 11 days later he slapped a gold bracelet on his wrist and put $661,000 in his pocket after taking down the $2,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em event, and in the process he broke Eric Froehlich’s record for being the youngest bracelet winner by six weeks. Six days later, he won a second bracelet in the $5,000 no-limit hold’em short-handed event for another $643,000. As if all of that wasn’t enough, Madsen also finished third in the $1,000 seven-card stud eight-or-better event for another $66,000.

“It’s part confidence and part momentum, which are both huge in poker. Even if you are a good player, your mindset affects everything you do. That’s why there are streaks in poker. People are emotional.”

In all, Madsen captured two bracelets, almost a million and a half dollars, and media attention galore. When the series was over, Madsen knew he’d left a permanent imprint of himself in WSOP history, but it’d be hard to know exactly how his life would change. He didn’t go pro immediately, but instead drove back to Santa Barbara for the fall semester.

“I was just taking a shot. I intended to finish school even if I won some money, I just expect to win that much. Before that, it was never about money, it was just about getting better. I never had more than a $5,000 bankroll.”

Aftermath

Madsen returned to school. He meddled through classes and played poker whenever he got a chance. A quarter and a half later, he found himself on the road, driving back to school from L.A., pondering his future as the miles passed beneath his tires. After calculating the pros and cons of his choices, he called his parents and turned the car around. He quit just a few credits away from graduation.

“I definitely want to go back at some point because I’m so close, but it was just too hard to balance school and play the tournaments I wanted to. I don’t regret the decision.”

He not only had to learn to deal with his new-found fame, but also the reality of life as a professional poker player. Having reached the height of his success so immediately, Madsen wasn’t trained in the mental strength and self control it takes to weather the ups and downs that come with using the game as their only source of income.

“I wasn’t a huge grinder before, so I wasn’t used to losing,” said Madsen. He continued cashing in major events, including three times at the 2007 WSOP, though he performed much lower than his expectations. His three cashes were for less than $15,000. The variance in multi-table tournaments can be tough for pros to get through the droughts, but Madsen persevered, saw through his commitment to improve, and in 2008, he cashed four times at the WSOP. He made a deep run in the $10,000 main event, finishing 112th for almost $42,000 and also made the final table of the $10,000 world championship mixed event, which boasted an eight-game rotation: deuce-to-seven draw lowball, limit hold’em, Omaha eight-or-better, razz, seven-card stud, stud eight-or-better, no-limit hold’em, and pot-limit Omaha.

Living life as a pro requires resiliency, and Madsen has shown it time and again. While staying consistent has been tough, staying grounded hasn’t.

“I feel like there are a lot of young, really good players who find success early but have life leaks, or they are gamblers. I think I have a healthy perspective. I look at the big picture, so when I step back and look at my life, if I find leaks, I’ll do something about it. I’ll gamble a little, party a little, but keep everything in moderation. You have to have your priorities straight.”
 
 Madsen has spent the last three years traveling the live tournament circuit but doesn’t miss out on other enjoyments of life.

What’s fun

While he looks like a typical 23-year-old, usually wearing bright colored jackets on top of the latest Hurly T-shirt, not many other guys his age are donating money by the thousands to charity. When he’s not playing poker to put money on the table, he’s often playing to help others do the same. If there’s a charity event happening in Vegas, Madsen is most likely playing and leading the way in the number of rebuys.

“Of course, I think giving to charity is important, and I like doing it, but it’s also fun to play charity tournaments. It’s the one time I get to play poker and have fun, see my friends, and have a few drinks.”

Off the felt, Madsen still loves skateboarding, but he rarely has time to do so. Another passion of his is hip hop. For those who know him well, it’s not uncommon for Madsen to be rapping or freestyling in any setting. He also still has aspirations of becoming a filmmaker and can see himself making a poker movie or show.

Madsen is also working on writing a poker book that will focus on advanced strategy and in-depth analysis. Fans can expect the final product late this year.

Though his other ambitions sometimes nag at him for attention, his main focus is still poker. He’s hungry for more WSOP gold. As mentioned before, Madsen recognizes the importance of momentum and confidence in poker, and he has both of them going in to this year’s WSOP. At the 2009 L.A. Poker Classic, he won a $1,500 no-limit hold’em tournament for more than $107,000 and also placed third in the $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. event for another $121,000. Most recently, he came in runner-up in a Bellagio Five-Star World Poker Classic preliminary event.

“I know I will eventually win another bracelet. I actually think I’ll win one this year. I’m not making a prediction, but I just feel like I’m playing really well right now.”

If one were pressed to describe Madsen in one word, it’d be versatile. His poker results proven that he’s a force to be reckoned with any form of the game, and his talent, class, and balanced maturity ensures that the poker world will hear many more stories from the breakout star.


Madsen’s record for youngest bracelet was broken the very next year by Steve Billirakis. Stay tuned in for the next A Poker Life on the current record holder.

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