What Solvers Still Can’t Teach You | Podcast ep.28: Jonathan Jaffe

Jonathan Jaffe's Substack Defining Edges subscribe for FREE here: https://definingedges.substack.com/ Jonathan is writing the part of poker history nobody documented: the heads-up era, the players who defined it, and where the real edges came from before solvers existed. — NEW IN THE LAB — ML ICM ENGINE Our Machine Learning models get you custom ICM strategies in seconds. Still experimental, for the best results, keep the average stack inside the range the tooltip suggests. Included in Pro and Tools plans, no upgrade, no tokens, no paid addon. Check it at https://gtolab.com/ — ABOUT THIS EPISODE Jonathan Jaffe was one of the best heads-up sit & go players in the world before solvers existed — and he never used one. He sits down with Nick Petrangelo and Daniel Dvoress to explain why the top 10 players at Triton aren't his hardest matchups, how he won a $10,000 tournament under a fake name, why his dad's phone calls made him a quarter of his online career, and what changed the year his biggest rival started tracking data. A conversation about poker psychology, live reads, exploits, game selection, and what solvers still can't teach you. 0:00 Why the top 10 aren't his hardest matchups 2:18 Dropping out of high school at 18 10:42 His dad found the fish: a homemade seat script 12:26 160–160, then his rival got a HUD 18:34 Learning poker before solvers existed 26:49 Florida, golf, and the private cash game 29:13 "I had a throne. I got knocked off the throne." 34:28 The scratch golfer and the 95% rule 43:50 Why Triton rewards an exploit player 49:52 Rock, paper, scissors — and the opponents he fears 58:23 Fake names, fake tattoos, and a dolphin trainer 1:07:56 The blindfold study and how live reads really work 1:34:26 Win $5M playing badly, or bust 10th playing perfect? 1:49:41 Inside the Montenegro $150K hand 2:04:51 Polling 20 pros on who's actually the best