The story of Jeff Madsen’s rise to poker power is short – really short. In fact, with the possible exceptions of Stu Ungar and Phil Hellmuth, it is the shortest rise to the top in the history of poker.
Born on June 7, 1985 in beautiful Santa Monica, Southern California, Madsen’s first trip to the World Series of Poker came in July 2006. The film student from UC Santa Barbara bought into the $2,000 Omaha Hi-Lo Split event and finished 3rd for a $97,552 payday. About a week and a half later, he would buy into the $2,000 NL Hold’em event which he would go on to win receiving $660,948. At the time of his victory he was 21 years and 5 weeks old – the then youngest champion in WSOP history, and currently the third youngest after Steve Billirakis and the near-unbeatable Annette Obrestad.
Less than a week after winning his first World Series of Poker bracelet, Madsen won the $5,000 NL Hold’em Short Handed event for another $643,381. Then for good measure, 4 days later he placed 3rd in the $1,000 Seven Card Stud Hi Lo Split event for another $65,971. After it was all said and done, Madsen had won 2 bracelets and placed in the top 3 in four different events… all while setting the mark as the youngest champion in the 40 year history of the WSOP. That sort of success in a WSOP career is good enough and that sort of success in a single WSOP is almost without precedent (Ted Forrest, Doyle Brunson, Phil Ivey and Phil Hellmuth have each won 3 bracelets in a single WSOP) but to do it as the youngest ever WSOP champ is truly unique.
Obviously, Madsen was awarded the 2006 WSOP Player of the Year Award as well as immediately included into the elite Full Tilt Poker pro team. In spite of his tremendous early success – and of lifetime tournament winnings over 1,700,000 – Madsen maintains that his goal is to forge a career in film as a writer/director. The young pro, who attended the same high school as Chris “Jesus” Ferguson, has now finished his studies at UC Santa Barbara and continues to live in Southern California.
Click here for Jeff Madsen’s interview with Poker News Daily.
