In the midst of one of the best years of his poker career, Jonathan Little jumped out to another fast start in his first tournament at the 2024 PokerStars North American Poker Tour (NAPT) Las Vegas festival.
The PokerCoaching.com founder emerged from the field in the $25,000 Super High Roller as the chip leader going into the first break. He spoke with PokerOrg about his plans and ambitions for the NAPT Las Vegas stop while casually munching on a protein bar during the pause.
So far, so good
Among his coaching site, his tournament results, and his first four hours playing the largest buy-in event at the NAPT, life seems good for Little.
“Everything has been great,” Little said. “I just arrived here in Las Vegas yesterday. I’m here to play the 25K and things are going well so far.”
A deep run in the Super High Roller would continue a theme of major success at the poker table in 2024 for Little. Three of his top-ten largest career tournament scores have come this calendar year, including a win in a $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em event at the Poker Masters in September.
Little sits at just shy of $9.4 million in career live tournament earnings coming into the NAPT Las Vegas series, according to The Hendon Mob. He turns 40 in December and looks to have a great shot at pushing those earnings over the $10 million mark before that milestone birthday.
High-stakes schedule
Little’s plans for this series include playing whatever large buy-in events feel right.
“I just wake up and look at the schedule and play whatever’s there,” Little said. “I show up and try to play whatever is the biggest buy-in no-limit hold’em tournament there is.”
The stakes don’t come any higher at the 2024 NAPT Las Vegas. The series, which kicked off on November 1 and runs through November 10, features one other High Roller event, a $10K buy-in tournament that starts on Friday.
Other tournaments that fit Little’s preferred buy-in range include the $5,300 Main Event (Nov. 5-10) and the $5,300 Cardplayer Lifestyle 8-Game Mix event on Saturday.
While Little doesn’t commit to playing any kind of set schedule for the series, expect to see him show up in the field in most or all of those events.
“My goal is to show up well rested and ready to play my best and implement the best strategy I possibly can,” Little said. “And then, win or lose, I don’t really care.”
Some of his peers in the Super High Roller are set to collaborate with Little in an upcoming course for PokerCoaching.com.
“We have a gigantic new course coming out very, very soon, featuring a lot of the players that are in this tournament,” Little said. “Shannon Shorr, Brock Wilson, Aram Zobian, Justin Saliba, me, we all have content coming out in the very near future, in November. So that’s coming up soon.”
Other big names in the Super High Roller include Erik Seidel, Scott Seiver, Chance Kornuth, Jeremy Ausmus, Jason Koon, and several other big buy-in crushers.
More US events, Little says
The NAPT Las Vegas returns to Resorts World for the second straight year after PokerStars relaunched the tour in November 2023. Monday’s schedule sees the Super High Roller, the $550 Mystery Bounty ($300,000 guaranteed), and the $1,100 RunGood Open ($400,000 guaranteed) sharing the tournament floor inside the Resorts World Convention Center.
The Las Vegas series is the second of two U.S. festivals for the NAPT this year, following the Maryland State Poker Championship which ran this past summer.
Little hopes to see the NAPT continue expanding the US schedule.
“I think it fits the priority for PokerStars to put on a lot of events in America,” Little said. “They certainly can. Every time they run a live event it’s always top-notch, and I hope they run more all across the country.”
Photo courtesy of PokerStars/Matthew Berglund/PokerGO
