Survivor Watch 2007 : Jean-Robust
Thursday, November 08, 2007
Survivor Watch 2007 has come to a close, with Jean-Robert Bellande ousted in 9th place. In Jean-Robert's own words: "If I were to relate what happened to a game of poker, I pushed all-in and it didn't work out for me, but I'm playing for first."
Jean-Robert, pronounced John-Ro-Bear had a decent run as a Survivor, but his position as town jerk made him an inevitable loser in the game of social interaction. Still, J-R brought some interesting twists to the game of Survivor, making moves never before seen in the game in 15 seasons.
J-R first wowed the Survivor world by confronting a skinny gay flight attendant on the first day to tell him (paraphrased): "I'm onto you. I know you are going to be making moves." The man-stewardess' reply: "Jean-Robert read me dead-on." Amazingly, never before has a player confronted another player so early in the game. Certainly, it's never been done with such a level of scheming and aggression.
J-R next revolutionized the game with Operation Low Expectations. Even though J-R is a behemoth of a man compared to the majority of his fellow castaways, J-R intentionally did little work for the first 10 days. According to the debonair Robert, "When I start working a little bit next week, they'll all be so amazed and impressed." Admittedly, this embedded reporter originally thought J-R had signed his own walking-papers with his unorthodox laze, but two episodes later the rest of camp sang the praises of J-R.
Alas, all good things come to an end, and eventually J-R became too big of a target. Even though he ostensibly had the numbers (at merge, his original tribe had 6 members to the other tribe's 3), J-R also had the mouth. When he learned a tad too late that there were hidden immunity idols in play, he did what any self-respecting poker player would do. First chase from behind by searching for the already found idols; then bluff to a weak player by claiming that he had the immunity idol; then, after learning that one of his own tribemates had the idols and a clear advantage, colluding by getting other players to join in a secret blindsiding attack against the guy with the idols. Eventually, it all turned around on J-R. Word got around that he was making moves and the other players used J-R's obnoxious reputation to justify their decision.
If there is one saving grace, it is that J-R made it to the jury. In a few weeks time when the show reaches its finale, J-R will have one more opportunity to get in front of the cameras and represent poker players. He may be a dickhead, but he's OUR dickhead.
Until next time, make mine poker!
posted by Jordan @ 9:11 PM,
4 Comments:
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At 6:56 AM,
said...
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You make me want to watch survivor even though I don't watch TV. Regardless, I know I'd have been pulling for Bellande since he's a poker player and he seems like a good guy at heart; however, I reserve the right to be completely wrong about that, of course!
Good stuff... I need to get a cable TV connection to this computer so I can watch TV while playing poker and surfing the web, or something -- survivor isn't watchable online is it? Ah well... TV takes too much effort. -
At 12:11 PM,
Jordan said...
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DP, Survivor is actually a great show. It might be online, since a lot of the networks offer their shows free on their sites nowadays. The great part of Survivor is the sociological and group dynamic aspects. For a poker player or anyone interested in game theory and human interaction, it makes for a really interesting watch. I love how people react in these group, competitive environments. It can teach you a lot about human nature.
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At 2:10 PM,
Schaubs said...
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JR was such a moron though. I mean he is always a step behind... and its all because he lacks the ability to interact on a level that people respect. No respect ='s being out of the loop.
I still have that mullet lady Denise in my Surivor pool. Go lunch lady go! -
At 4:13 PM,
Jordan said...
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JR did suck, when its all said and done. But, if you really think it through, he also had a decent all-in or bust strategy. If he made it deeper into the game, players would've kept him around as the perfect guy to take into the final 2, since he was so disliked. Once he makes it to the final 2, I would hope that he could talk his way into some votes. After all, he mostly shined when he was talking at tribal counsel. Still, it was fairly clear that he was a longshot to win.
GL in your pool Schaubs. Sadly, I'm not in a pool this year. Last year, I had Yau Man, and was very close to winning the whole shebang.
