Interview With Matt Staples

Matt Staples has not only grown physically over this past year or two – his weight gain part of the Bill Perkins prop bet adding 54lbs to his frame – but also in poker standing and stature, being first name out of the partypoker hat for their impressive Team Online of poker streamers.

PokerTube caught up with Matty to discuss all things partypoker Team Online related, as well as how his combined pro poker and TwitchTV careers came about.

Q: First up, big congrats on the Team Online announcement! How did it feel to be the first member announced? 

It was a really awesome moment to finally be announced and to also have it tied to the announcement of the new Team Online made it extra special. It added an extra level of hype. This is the next big step in my career and it's going to be very fun to see how it progresses. 

Q: Was it something that took a while to come about, or did partypoker surprise you with the offer and you snap-called?  

Wouldn't call it a snap-call but it did formulate pretty quickly.

Q: What does it mean to your career to be associated with such an iconic poker room? 

I’m really happy to be working with partypoker. The overall attitude of everyone I've spoken to and worked with thus far has been really great. Everyone seems to be really committed to creating a better experience for poker players and so many good changes have been made recently. It's nice to be a part of that process going forward.

Q: How will it change/affect your play/ streaming/poker plans in general? 

The Twitch stream should remain pretty consistent with the past broadcasts. The only changes will be more opportunity for promotions and collaborations with the site and fellow members of the team. Things like streamer sit & go’s or cash games, heads up battles between team members, things along those lines. 

Q: You, along with your brother Jaime and a few others have become synonymous with excellent poker streaming – was that an idea/option/plan/goal when you started out in the game? 

I started out streaming and playing poker purely for fun, never had an interest in becoming a professional player or full time streamer but after seeing my poker skills develop and my channel grow over time I fell in love with both and never looked back.

Q: What can your fans and viewers expect from you in Team Online? 

I will be streaming high/mid stakes tournaments full time on my Twitch channel as per usual but with plenty of added interaction with the website in terms of promotions, giveaways, tournament opportunities etc. 

Looking forward to also creating lots of content with the other partypoker pros in terms of guest streams/challenges, interviews and general team interaction. 

Q: Does the Team Online role have a very narrow remit? Or will you be relatively free to pick and choose what you play/stream/etc? 

I will be free to create the content I always have on Twitch and my social media platforms but will of course have a focus on working hard to promote, grow and improve partypoker.

Q: On a personal level, how happy are you with how your poker career has progressed?  

I’m very happy and very hungry at the same time. I got into the game purely for fun so to be recognized by partypoker on this level and have a successful Twitch stream still blows my mind a little. 

At the same time there was a point in my career where I started taking my poker/stream very seriously and I don't feel like I've satisfied my goals properly yet so I will continue to work hard to hopefully get to the top in both fields.

Q: The Bill Perkins prop bets/association has obviously raised your profile over the past year or two, and he has also recently joined forces with partypoker for the Thirst Lounge. Will you be working with him at all in the future?

Based on how the last two prop bets came about I have learned that anything can happen at any time when it involves Bill Perkins. I would hope I will have a chance to collaborate with the ThirstLounge and the fun team they have at some point.

Q: How much do you know about your fellow Team Online squad members? Do you follow other streamers closely?  

I'm friends with the whole team! I've met most if not all of them at different live poker or Twitch events and interact with their streams on a weekly basis.

Q: Do you have any plans for your first official Team Online stream? 

I fired up a high stakes schedule and just tried to soak in the excitement from the community.

Q: As of writing this question, we don’t know if your brother Jaime will be in Team Online or not…were you told in advance who your fellow members would be?  

I knew enough to be excited about the team.

…and sure enough, as coincidence would have it, the day we go to press with Matty’s partypoker Team Online interview we get news – finally! – that brother Jaime will also be joining  the Team Online squad, May 4th the date for the brothers to once again team up and share their poker adventures with the wider world!