Off the Felt with Jonathan Little
Off the Felt is interviewing your favorite poker players to find out a little bit about their lives — you got it, off the felt. We sat down with Jonathan Little recently and we talked a little poker, prop bets, and why he does so well at the World Poker Tour.
How did you get started playing poker?
I started playing poker with friends in college and also people that played Magic the Gathering. I saw a few people winning and I tried to figure out how they played. I worked in the airport at the time and had a lot of downtime so I started reading poker books and that's pretty much it. I eventually put money online and did well from there.
If you weren’t playing poker, what would you be doing?
I really don't know. That was one of my problems. I never really had any aspirations in life and was never really driven to be anything. I was going to college for engineering and didn't really enjoy it and that's when poker came along.
What is your greatest accomplishment in poker so far?
It would probably have to be winning the World Poker Tour Player of the Year. But it's kind of hard to say what the greatest accomplishment is because I’ve done a lot of good things so far and they’re all pretty important to me.
What’s the one song you can’t quit playing on your iPod?
I really don't listen to too much music on my iPod anymore. I started listening to classical music. I figured out that it keeps me calm whereas rock gets me excited. But I don't have any particular songs I enjoy that much anymore, which is kind of odd because I think most people do.
What is your favorite tournament stop?
That’s a good question. I kind of like Foxwoods, believe it or not, because I don't think there's anything there to really distract me from playing poker, whereas everywhere else kind of has many other things you can do. At Foxwoods, you’re kind of forced into playing poker and I like not having any distractions.
If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you live?
Las Vegas. That’s where all the poker is.
Twitter or Facebook?
Twitter for sure. Facebook is very crowded and on Twitter I can only see the people I want to see.
What is your favorite TV show?
Probably Lost right now. I'm excited for the next season when it starts.
What is the most you’ve ever spent on credit-card roulette, sports betting, and prop bets?
I just lost credit-card roulette for $2,000 the other day, so that was no fun. It was for tickets to the Dallas Cowboys game. The biggest sports bet I’ve ever made was maybe $10,000, but that was back in my degenerate gambling days. I don't do that much anymore. I don't really do too many prop bets because I guess I'm not that confident in my prop betting game yet.
What is the craziest prop bet you’ve ever seen go down?
One year in the Bahamas, Tom Dwan bet Peter Jetten that he couldn't kill a seagull on the beach. He did not kill the seagull. For another one, they bet this guy that he couldn't jump to the bottom of the shark tank at the slide at the Bahamas and get back out. He did that successfully and then lost the money to Mike Matusow on Full Tilt about ten minutes after that.
What is the craziest prop bet you’ve ever done yourself?
I really haven't done too many prop bets. I try and stay away from things that could get me in trouble or make me look like an idiot.
Ship it Holla or One Time?
Definitely Ship it Holla
Who is the one player you’d love to bust from a tournament?
I try not make vendettas against anybody. I try to not want to go out of my way to bust people, but generally anyone that’s really arrogant or loud and obnoxious. Anyone like that.
Do you just like Mike Sexton and Vince van Patten on the World Poker Tour better than Norman Chad and Lon McEachern on the World Series of Poker, or is it just coincidence your biggest wins are in the WPT?
I definitely like Mike and Vince a lot better than the other two guys. I think they analyze poker a little bit better and they know what they’re talking about, whereas I’m not sure the other guys know much about poker at all.
Thanks for chatting with us Jonathan! Good luck in your future tournaments!
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