#BOMinterview 

After 3 days of battle, and a prolonged heads-up match, the Battle of Malta Champion is decided!

JORDAN HOOPER (WHOM?) WINS!

It was looking as if BoM2015 would finish the same way as 2014, with a hard-stop to the proceedings as the heads up battle between World-Class female player Maria Ho and the unknown, unwashed, Jordan Hooper, became a fight that we all thought security would have to eventually break up.

Hooper went into the heads-up match at a 4/1 chip disadvantage, as Ho had walked all over the final table since the first hand. She put him to it straight away on A106 and he called with 10-9, which was good and stayed that way.

Hooper was highly aggressive from the first hand onwards, although Maria is not a girl to be bullied. There was a lot of flop play, with neither player giving anything away, in terms of chips, or in terms of how they were feeling.

If either player was feeling the strain, neither was showing it.

In the final hand, Ho opened 3x and Hooper 3 bet ½ pot.
Maria called and saw the Ac, Qc, 10h flop.

Hooper checked, and Ho bet, Hooper clicked it and Ho flatted.

Turn Qd. Hooper bet ½ pot and Ho flatted.

River 2c. Hooper shipped all in for just over the pot.

Ho instantly called and flipped 1010, Hooper turned AQ for a higher boat; he only had Maria covered by 2 big blinds, showing how close this match had been.

Maria Ho has amassed over $2.5mil in tournament winnings worldwide, Hooper won his BoM seat in a prop bet against his friend Andy Thompson, who bet him that he couldn't eat 14 Jaffa Cakes in 60 seconds. Hooper succeeded in dispatching the Jaffa Cakes, and it turned out the be a very sweet payday indeed, with Hooper netting £125000 for his poker/biscuit efforts.

I caught up with Hooper just after he collected his trophy. He was blatantly hitting on Mario Ho, so I thought I'd rescue her.

Kat Arnsby: Jordan! Congratulations, you must be very excited.

Jordan Hooper: What are you doing here? Do I owe you money?

KA: Probably. How does it feel to be the BoM 2015 champion, Hoops?

JH: Erm... I'm not sure. I'm a bit overwhelmed at the moment. Have I really just won, like, more than a hundred grand? Can you pinch me? Ow! Not that hard!

KA: You've done brilliantly, Maria Ho is a formidable opponent. How do you think you managed to beat her?

JH: Like any tourney, there was a lot of luck involved. I think she may have been a bit over-confident when we went heads up, I mean, I would have been in her shoes, but sometimes it's not a great mindset to have. When we went heads up, I was ready for a fight, she was ready for a walk; I think I had a better mentality.

KA: Do you think she underestimated you?

JH: I do a bit, to be honest. I'm not a high-stakes player normally, but once you're in a game, you're in, you can only bring what you've got. I may only be in my twenties, but I have played a massive amount of poker hands, because I'm an online grinder. I think it can be easy to look at someone like me and think I'm a nobody, but sometimes, a quiet nobody can be a dangerous opponent.

KA: People always say online is nothing like live; but you think your online experience helped you with this tournament?

JH: Of course! In many ways, hand experience is hand experience. There is something to be said for becoming comfortable in the live environment, but I achieved that in low-stakes live games.

KA: There seems to be more and more tournament brands including buyins at the level of £500, or thereabouts. Do you think this is good for the game?

JH: Absolutely! To be able to turn £500 into £125000 over 3 days is very tempting for any player. It's a very inclusive buyin level. Satellites can be really cheap, and not time consuming; I think it's a savvy level of buyin for major brands to run.
I love the mixed field, there's pros, online micro-stakes qualifiers and rich fish everywhere at once!

KA: Is that you now, Hoops, you going to be a wealthy fish?

JH: Not at all. I'll probably increase my roll and stakes slightly, but I'm not an idiot, no point playing way outside my skill level and doing the lot in 3 months, is there? I think that is a mistake a lot of young players make, and I'm not going to fall into that trap.
I'm going to spend my winnings mainly on cheap women and expensive drugs.

KA: Sounds pretty sensible to me; you've got my number. Can you give any advice to other low-stakes players who are looking to emulate what you've done here?

JH: Play the game. Talk about the game. Think about the game. For me, it's mainly about not living in denial. If you keep losing in certain spots, find out why.
If you want to be a successful player, you have to spend more time learning about probabilities than complaining about results, it's that simple.

KA: Very wise words. Is there a Mrs Hooper who will be enjoyed the fruits of your gaming?

JH: Well, there might have been, if you hadn't interrupted me chatting up Maria. Piss off now, eh?

I let Hooper get back to what he's trying to do, and take a seat at the bar.
There are staff moving tables, and packing up equipment, and the poker room has that “after holidays” feel.

I don't want to leave, because as soon as I do, it will be over, the Battle won, the spoils divided, and the excitement spent for another year.

The Battle of Malta will return next year, will you be here? Will you be ready for Battle?