Jonathan Little: From Magic the Gathering to Two-Time WPT Champion

Life Outside Poker is a podcast for PokerNews hosted by Connor Richards that seeks to pull back the curtain on poker players and allow viewers and listeners to get to know them on a personal level.

In the 22nd episode, Connor speaks with poker coach Jonathan Little about the early days of online poker, Magic the Gathering, dealing with downswings, winning the 2007 WPT Mirage Poker Showdown and 2008 WPT Mashantucket Championship, recent victories in the PokerGO Studio and balancing poker and family.

Little also talked about running PokerCoaching.com, the qualities of a good poker coach and mentoring high-stakes pro Justin Saliba.

This interview was filmed at the PokerStars North American Poker Tour (NAPT) festival at Resorts World Las Vegas.

The Life Outside Poker podcast is available on major streaming platforms including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, SoundCloud and iHeartRadio. You can also watch the interview with Jonathan Little by heading to the PokerNews YouTube channel.

Be sure to follow Jonathan Little and Connor Richards on X.

Learn More About Life Outside Poker!

Timestamps TIME TOPIC 0:00 Intro 1:05 Getting into poker 4:45 Playing online w/ Shannon Shorr 7:14 Building a bankroll & early downswings 10:50 07-08 WPT run 15:33 Poker coaching 19:23 Other poker coaches 20:25 Mentoring Justin Saliba 25:44 NAPT Las Vegas 28:55 Balancing poker and family 30:30 Poker Hall of Fame 31:41 Book recommendation 33:32 Advice for younger self 35:05 Favorite life lesson from poker