WSOP Event 22 - $2,000 no-limit hold'em

Jeff Madsen Becomes the Youngest Winner in WSOP History

by Nolan Dalla

Number of Entries: 1,579
Total Prize Money: $2,873,780
Defending Champion (2005): Erik Seidel

Official Results:
1. Jeff Madsen, Los Angeles, CA, $660,948
2. Paul Sheng, San Francisco, CA, $330,485
3. Julian Gardner, Manchester, UK, $172,427
4. Troy Parkins, Leesburg, VA, $132,194
5. Robert Dylan Cohen, New York, NY, $112,077
6. Robert Bright, Las Vegas, NV, $94,835
7. Michael Chow, Honolulu, HI, $83,340
8. Billy Duarte, Berthold, CO, $71,845
9. John Shipley, Solihull, UK, $60,349
10. Efrain Lopez, Miami, FL, $48,854
11. Mats Gavatin, Sweden, $45,980
12. Anthony Tamborello, Seffner, FL, $43,107
13. Greg Gossard, San Diego, CA, $40,233
14. Michael Odeh, Metairie, LA, $37,359
15. Steve Crockett, Costa Mesa, CA, $34,485
16. Steve Malezentes, Santa Maria, CA, $31,612
17. Anthony Toscano, Huntington Beach, CA, $28,738
18. Ben Armstrong, Tulsa, OK, $25,864
19. Jason Strasser, New York, NY, $22,990
20. Reza Zand, Henderson, NV, $22,990
21. Shane Littlefield, Manchester, MD, $22,990
22. Stuart Moody, Cary, NC, $20,116
23. David Byer, Las Vegas, NV, $20,116
24. Thomas H. Ostrander, Tampa, FL, $20,116
25. Thomas Dykema, Holland, MI, $17,243
26. Cory Ward, Titusville, CA, $17,243
27. Alex Brenes, San Jose, Costa Rica, $17,243
28. Francois Scapula, Bastia, France, $14,369
29. Chang Huang, Fort Myers, FL, $14,369
30. Michael R. Scuza, San Diego, CA, $14,369
31. Jonathan S. Mann, Portland, OR, $11,495
32. Eugene Todd, Brooklyn, NY, $11,495
33. Philip S. Mazen, Syosset, NY, $11,495
34. Gabriel Nassif, Paris, France, $10,058
35. Tyrone Bayne, Paris, France, $10,058
36. Reza Payvar, Tarzana, CA, $10,058
37. Jonathan Little, Pensacola, FL, $8,621
38. Darryl Dauenhauer, Laughlin, NV, $8,621
39. Brian Kelley, Ft. Myers, Fl, $8,621
40. Edward Lundon, Edinburgh, UK, $8,621
41. Thomas L. Franklin, Gulfport, MS, $8,621
42. Kevin D. Whitaker, III, San Francisco, CA, $8,621
43. Daniel MacLean, Highland Ranch, CO, $8,621
44. Parris Holmes, Jr. Palm Desert, CA, $8,621
45. Douglas Gladstone, San Francisco, CA, $8,621
46. Walter Chambers, Baton Rouge, LA, $7,184
47. Andy Davenport, Horsham, PA, $7,184
48. Samir Khoueis, Sydney, Australia, $7,184
49. Delainey Blakeney, Brandon, MS, $7,184
50. Philip Carver, Chandler, AZ, $7,184
51. Ben Staufeneger, Anderson, SC, $7,184
52. Douglas Carli, Alliance, OH, $7,184
53. Jason Stern, San Jose, CA, $7,184
54. Paul Tschernia, Henderson, NV, $7,184
55. Miguel Mateo, San Juan, Puerto Rico, $5,748
56. Marc Schneiderman, Rockaway Park, NY, $5,748
57. Ayad Hussein, Tinley Park, IL, $5,748
58. Richard Sharpe, Henderson, NV, $5,748
59. Rich Pasquini, Newbury Park, CA, $5,748
60. Peter Verey, Victoria, Australia, $5,748
61. Nathan Doodney, Dallas, TX, $5,748
62. Thomas Bradford, JR, Douglasville, GA, $5,748
63. Ronald Weems, Overland Park, KS, $5,748
64. Srivatsa Shankam, Las Vegas, NV, $5,748
65. Jeff Shulman, Las Vegas, NV, $5,748
66. Carl Sciandri, Napa, CA, $5,748
67. Robert Mastrosimone, Islip, NY, $5,748
68. Michael Guadano, San Diego, CA, $5,748
69. Brian Mogelefsky, Huntington, NY, $5,748
70. Courtney Harrington, Mooresville, NC, $5,748
71. Jeremy Scharf, Valley Village, CA, $5,748
72. Shannon Shorr, Birmingham, AL, $5,748
73. Robert Spicuzza, Lexington, KY, $4,311
74. Asher Derei, Sherman Oaks, CA, $4,311
75. Dante Pugliese, North Hollywood, CA, $4,311
76. Peter Lee, Northridge, CA, $4,311
77. Adam Daniels, Ottawa, Canada, $4,311
78. Hung Van La, Manhattan Beach, CA, $4,311
79. Vincent Sokalski, Allentown, PA, $4,311
80. Ernie Scherer, NA, $4,311
81. Baris Yazici, Las Vegas, NV, $4,311
82. Jamin Styers, Ocala, FL, $4,311
83. Bert Boutin, Henderson, NV, $4,311
84. Stephen Well, Milford, NH, $4,311
85. David Brannen, Plymouth, UK, $4,311
86. Douglas Hartman, Dallas, TX, $4,311
87. David Barbet, Royersford, PA, $4,311
88. Jon Karmar, Chorley, UK, $4,311
89. Adam Zinn, Henderson, NV, $4,311
90. Simon Ford, Calbary, Alberta, Canada, $4,311
91. Mark Migdal, Woodland Hills, CA, $4,311
92. Dave Colclough, Birmingham, UK, $4,311
93. Mark Lillge, Kensington, CA, $4,311
94. Steven Friedlander, Reno, NV, $4,311
95. Samuel Mallard, Tampa, FL, $4,311
96. David Hiben, JR, Bloomington, MN, $4,311
97. Steven Rassi, Morton, IL, $4,311
98. Michael Landers, Las Vegas, NV, $4,311
99. Feming Chan, Cranbury, NJ, $4,311
100. Donnie Sitic, Las Vegas, NV, $4,311
101. Christopher Rizzo, Portland, ME, $4,311
102. Young Phan, Garden Grove, CA, $4,311
103. Johan Storakers, Sweden, $4,311
104. Jeffrey Gottesman, Huntingdon Valley, PA, $4,311
105. Tony Fasulo, Ontario, Canada, $4,311
106. Mark Tarich, North Miami Beach, FL, $4,311
107. Gioi Luong, Westminster, CA, $4,311
108. Yeang Kuy, Fresno, CA, $4,311
109. Gregory Fleming, Alberta, Canada, $2,874
110. Ari Konyalian, Glendale, CA, $2,874
111. Joshua Schlein, NA, $2,874
112. Robert Loucks, Redford Township, MI, $2,874
113. Stephen Wilsdon, NA, $2,874
114. Howard Hu, San Diego, CA, $2,874
115. David Shotwell, NA, $2,874
116. Jeremy Burron, NA, $2,874
117. Peter Gould, England, $2,874
118. Jeffrey Rosenblatt, NA, $2,874
119. Brandon Greulich, Del Mar, CA, $2,874
120. Marc McCormick, North Las Vegas, NV, $2,874
121. Dennis Mattingly, Las Vegas, NV, $2,874
122. Robert S, NA, $2,874
123. Michael Ta, Portland, OR, $2,874
124. Gerald DeNicholas, Tampa, FL, $2,874
125. David McGrath, Hermosa Beach, CA, $2,874
126. Joseph Demarco, Seattle, WA, $2,874
127. David Stamm, Granite Bay, CA, $2,874
128. Erik Seidel, Las Vegas, NV, $2,874
129. Eddie Gravalese, Revere, MA, $2,874
130. Yan Chen, Las Vegas, NV, $2,874
131. Dao Bac, Garden Grove, CA, $2,874
132. Andre Ridges, Columbia, SC, $2,874
133. Charles Ambrogi, Dublin, OH, $2,874
134. Paul Hughes, Brownsville, MN, $2,874
135. Mitchell Smith, Winnsboro, SC, $2,874
136. Louis Asmo, Dublin, OH, $2,874
137. Steve Fetterman, Apollo, PA, $2,874
138. Peter Hedlund, Sweden, $2,874
139. Jing Xia, Las Vegas, NV, $2,874
140. Peter Nam, Los Angeles, CA, $2,874
141. Noel Martinez, Gilbert, AZ, $2,874
142. Men "The Master" Nguyen, Bell Gardens, CA, $2,874
143. Nam Le, NA, $2,874
144. Michael Labarbera, San Jose, CA, $2,874
145. George Williams, Concord, CA, $2,874
146. Jason Urchek, Ravenna, OH, $2,874
147. Tony Bloom, London, England, $2,874
148. Shawn Lusher, Kansas City, KS, $2,874
149. Lawrence Lossia, Southfield, MI, $2,874
150. James Godfrey, Killington, VT, $2,874
151. Khenh Chanthamala, East Lyme, CT, $1,437
152. Daniel Gati, New York, NY, $1,437
153. Bradley Berman, Minnetonka, MN, $1,437
154. Matthew Keikoan, Richmond, CA, $1,437
155. Richard Weisman, Las Vegas, NV, $1,437
156. Jean Gaspard, Evanston, IL, $1,437

LAS VEGAS, Nev. – For the third consecutive year, the record for youngest World Series of Poker winner has been broken. Back in 2004, Gavin Griffin became the youngest player in history to win a gold bracelet. Even then, with so many young people turned on to poker, it seemed just a matter of time before a younger star would emerge and eclipse the record. Next came 2005, when Eric Froehlich won the $1,500 buy in Limit Hold'em championship. At 21 years, three months, and three days of age, Froehlich established a new benchmark for the youngest poker champion. Now in 2006, the record has been shattered again.

Jeff Madsen, aged 21 years, one month, and nine days, has likely set a record that will not be broken for quite some time. Madsen defeated a whopping 1,578 players, who each put up $2,000 to enter Event #22 on this year’s World Series of Poker schedule. First place paid $660,948. Not bad for a young college student preparing to return to school next month for his senior year.

It took two long days to eliminate most of the huge field. On Day Three, the nine finalists took the stage at the Rio Las Vegas to play for the championship. The final table included several well-established tournament veterans. However, this was the first open event in 2006 not to include at least one former gold bracelet winner.

Troy Parkins, $451,000, 1
Bob Bright, $365,000, 2
Billy Duarte, $102,000, 3
Jeff Madson, $413,000, 4
Julian Gardner, $628,000, 5
Michael Chow, $125,000, 6
Robert Dylon Cohen, $419,000, 7
John Shipley, $166,000, 8
Paul Sheng, $569,000, 9

John Shipley was the first player out. The British pro was low on chips and was forced to play a sub-par hand in the end, resulting in elimination. Shipley, who won the European Poker Tour championship in London two years ago and also made the final table of the WSOP main event in 2002 (one of two players at this table to do so), received $60,349 for ninth place.

Billy Duarte, who has been playing poker for 60 years and made several final tables at major tournaments in recent years, was the next player to exit. Duarte arrived as the low stack and went out on the tenth hand of play holding ace-eight suited. His opponent had king-jack suited and flopped a jack. Duarte locked up eighth place, which paid $71,845.

Michael Chow followed next with pocket nines, which lost to pocket jacks. Chow, 230th in the main event last year (out of 5,619 entries), took seventh place. The Hawaiian said “aloha” and pocketed $83,340.

Robert Bright went out in sixth place with pocket fours, which were steamrolled by a straight. Bright, the CEO of a stock trading firm, cashed out for $94,835 in prize money.

Robert Dylan Cohen was the next player to exit. The New York actor and comedian turned poker player was low on chips and lost his final hand with jack-ten versus pocket queens. Cohen had to settle for fifth place, which paid $112,077.

A few hands later, Troy Parkins made a very bold move with an all-in bet on a straight draw. Jeff Madsen made a tough call holding top pair. When Parkins missed his draw, it meant a fourth-place finish. Parkins, an information technology specialist from Leesburg, Virginia collected $132,194.

Julian Gardner hoped to become the third main event runner-up to win a gold bracelet this year. So far, Sammy Farha (2003) and David Williams (2004) have won events. Gardner finished second in 2002 to world champion Robert Varkonyi (earning $1.1 million). This time he could do no better than third place. On his final hand, Gardner had top pair but lost to Jeff Madsen’s spade flush. Gardner, one of England’s top poker players, received $172,427 in prize money.

When heads-up play began, Jeff Madsen enjoyed a slightly better than 2 to 1 chip lead versus Paul Sheng. It didn’t take long for the final hand of the tournament to come. Madsen had jack-seven versus Sheng’s ace-seven. Madsen’s hand was completely dominated, normally a bad situation. But all the chips went into the pot on the turn when the board showed 10-9-8-6. Both players had a seven, good for a straight. However, Madsen also had a jack, which meant a higher straight. It was a brutal way for Sheng to lose, but there was not much defense against a higher straight.

As the runner up, Paul Sheng received $330,485. The Taiwanese-born software executive, who now lives in San Francisco, had his best showing ever at the WSOP. This is Sheng’s third year to play on poker’s biggest stage and certainly won’t be his last.

Following his win, Jeff Madsen demonstrated why he has been so successful in poker at such a young age. Madsen displayed none of the bravado that one might expect from someone who had just won $660,948 at the World Series. Remarkably, this was Madsen’s second big cash at this year’s WSOP. He also finished third in the Omaha High-Low championship held two weeks ago – good for $97,552.

Madsen is currently a film student at UC-Santa Barbara. He says he hopes to eventually get into film and perhaps try his hand at directing. “I will definitely finish college,” Madsen said afterward. “College is very important, so it will be part of my life. But the reality is -- I’m still young, so I have some time to figure things out.”

Despite his youth, Madsen has played live casino poker for nearly three years. He played regularly at various California Indian casinos near his home, where the legal gambling age is 18. Due to Nevada state law, this is the first year he was eligible to play at the WSOP.

Madsen expects that his record might stand for quite some time. “It’s going to be tough (to break),” Madsen said. “I’m just lucky that my birthday was so close. It’s going to be hard, since I’m 21 and one month. It will sure be tough to break that record.”

Overall Tournament Statistics (through end of Event #22):
Total Entries to Date: 21,148
Total Prize Money Distributed: $44,399,912