Jeff Madsen Wins the HPT California State Poker Championship for $160,060

May 20, 2014

Chad Holloway PR & Media Manager

On Monday, the Heartland Poker Tour (HPT) wrapped up its stop at the California State Poker Championship at the Commerce Casino in Commerce, CA. The $1,650 Main Event attracted a field of 584 players, which created a prize pool of $846,800, and after a full weekend of play, Jeff Madsen emerged victorious to capture the $160,060 first-place prize.

Madsen began the final table as the short stack, but the established pro from Santa Monica was able to keep his composure, chip up, and navigate his way to the title.

Place	Player	Hometown	Prize
1st	Jeff Madsen	Santa Monica, CA	$160,060
2nd	Alex Greenblatt	Atherton, CA	$112,200
3rd	Amit Makhija	Redondo Beach, CA	$72,150
4th	Doug Lee	Calgary, AB, Canada	$53,430
5th	Luther Quach	Arcadia, CA	$40,050
6th	Brett Murray	Santa Rosa, CA	$32,090
7th	Jasmin Oh	Los Angeles, CA	$26,760
8th	Wes Nally	Rio Dell, CA	$21,340
9th	Steve Ayoub	Santa Monica, CA	$16,000

_{*Prize includes $3,000 HPT Championship package}

According to the HPT, Madsen kicked things off by chipping up and then eliminating Steve Ayoub in ninth place. Ayoub fell when his pocket queens failed to hold against Madsen’s ace-king.

Madsen then picked up pocket aces to eliminate construction worker Wes Nally in eighth place for $21,340. “In all reality, I’ll probably have to ask the wife,” Nally said when asked what he’ll do with the prize money.

Jeff Madsen Wins the HPT California State Poker Championship for 0,060 101 — The HPT Commerce final table.

From there, Day 1 chip leader Jasmin Oh of Los Angeles fell in seventh place for $26,760 — not too shabby considering she got into the tournament via a $240 satellite — and then Brett Murray, who won an HPT preliminary event at the Thunder Valley Casino Resort earlier this year, exited in sixth after his Qx9x failed to improve against Alex Greenblatt’s AxJx.

Luther Quach of Arcadia, CA was perhaps the quietest player at the table, but eventually he made a stand with AxKx. Unfortunately for him, Greenblatt woke up with 7x7x and held. Quach took home $40,050 for his fifth-place finish.

Canada’s Doug Lee, who began the final table as the chip leader, was the next to go after he got it in with pocket kings only to have Madsen make a straight with Ax10x. Lee took home $53,430 for his fourth-place finish.

On Hand #106 of the final table, which took place in Level 31 (60,000/120,000/20,000), Amit Makhija, who has more than $3 million in lifetime earnings, moved all in from the button and received a call from Greenblatt in the big blind.

Greenblatt: A♦K♥
Makhija: 6♣6♦

It was another flip, and Makhija was looking to hold. He did so on the 9♥5♦3♥ flop, but then disaster struck as the dealer burned and turned the A♣. The 5♥ river failed to help Makhija, and he bowed out in third place for $72,150. “HPT is fun,” Makhija said of his first-ever HPT event. “I’d definitely recommend it to other people.”

Madsen entered heads-up play with a more than 3-1 chip lead over Greenblatt, and it’d take just 14 hands for him to seal the deal. In what would be the final hand, a raising war saw Greenblatt, who finished runner-up at the HPT in Black Hawk, Colorado last September, seven-bet shove and Madsen call him.

Greenblatt: 10♣10♠
Madsen: Q♥5♥

Madsen was priced in after six-betting, but he was in need of some help. The A♥9♦8♥ flop gave him some in the form of a flush draw, and while the A♠ turn failed to complete it, the 6♥ river did. Greenblatt finished as runner-up for $112,200 while Madsen captured the $157,060 first-place prize.

This year is basically a culmination of a lot of hard work and things have come together. Great momentum going into the WSOP. I # poker
— Jeff Madsen (@JeffMadsenobv)