I passed Exam P Feb 08; second attempt. My first attempt, I used a study guide and really tried to understand the concepts and learn about probability. I failed. The second time, I used no study guide; I did not open a book. I did not use this forum. I did exactly one thing: I memorized all of the SOA 123 questions and solutions to the point that I could reproduce them upon demand on a page given a random number between 1 and 123. That's it. That may sound like a daunting task but given the 150-300 hours you are going to blow 'learning' the material, it's actually not that difficult.