S39: Ronnie Bardah

[Whimsy]

From CBS.com

Ronnie Bardah

Biography

Age: 35
Hometown: Brockton, Massachusetts
Current residence: Henderson, Nevada
Occupation: Pro Poker Player

Hobbies: Kickboxing, beatboxing, and hiking.

Pet peeves: When people try to enter my elevator just as I am trying to exit! Also watching someone misplay a hidden Immunity Idol makes me nuts.

Three words to describe you: Resilient, analytical, and savvy.

What accomplishment are you most proud of?
Holding the world record for most consecutive cashes in the World Series of Poker (WSOP) main event. Also getting my dad out of Brockton and buying him a place in Henderson, Nevada!

Who or what is your inspiration in life?
The American soldiers who risk their lives everyday fighting for our freedom. Also those who never give up.

What's one thing we wouldn't know from seeing a photo of you?
That I am musically inclined.

Which Survivor contestant are you most like?
Jeremy Collins because he's charismatic, loyal, compassionate, and can read players so well. Strategically, my approach would be a hybrid of Devon Pinto—bluffing the dumb role sneakily well—and Boston Rob—impeccable timing of making big moves and sniffing out when people are up to something.

What's your primary motivation for being on Survivor?

[LadyChatts]

[LadyChatts]

https://ew.com/tv/2019/09/26/survivor-ronnie-bardah-island-of-the-idols-interview/

One of Ronnie's exit interviews.  He didn't buy Elizabeth's lie about IOTI.

Also from his bio:

Quote

Which Survivor contestant are you most like?
Strategically, my approach would be a hybrid of Devon Pinto—bluffing the dumb role sneakily well

It'll be interesting if this ends up summing up Elaine, like is being discussed in her thread, and he got outplayed by someone he thought he was like.

Edited September 28, 2019 by LadyChatts

[Eolivet]

I fail to understand why people think the poker and Survivor skill set are the same things. I actually think they're almost opposite. Emotion is the enemy of poker, while I think it can help you win Survivor (at least the appearance of it). Why would a game where you stare stonily at a hand of cards be equivalent to a game where you have to live with people, and form relationships, form alliances. People are not a hand of cards. People are not things to be bet on or dealt or discarded (well, you can, but you end up like Russell Hantz). And people see through others who see people like a hand of cards.

For a poker player, Ronnie utterly failed to read the room -- there was no enthusiasm for voting out Elaine. Explaining it like "but she is a card I must get rid of to strengthen my hand" makes no logical sense. Elaine isn't a jack of clubs, she's a living, breathing person, who forms bonds, relationships, developing trust with others. It was a totally emotionless calculation, and I'm so glad to see it bit him squarely in the behind.

I'm not the biggest fan of poker to begin with, but I can't stand when it's compared to Survivor. Emotion is beauty in real life, and emotion is power in Survivor. Emotion helps you sway a jury and avoid getting voted out and gets people to play idols for you. Emotion is the strongest weapon you have in Survivor, and these people like Ronnie (and War Dog last year) who come in with the "this is my hand, what am I dealt, how much do I bet" mentality will always, always lose.

[Ms Blue Jay]

I love poker.  Though I only play it casually and don't have a high level of skill.  You need the ability to bluff.  When Ronnie tried to "smoothly lie" to Elaine, she saw right through it.  So as I said in the episode thread, either he's terrible at lying or Elaine is just super smart/savvy, or both.  Bad combination.  

I see the analogy as in poker and Survivor you need to be good at controlling whether people buy or not buy into what you're saying.  Everyone is "gambling" in poker and Survivor (i.e. their chance to win a million dollars) and you want them to "gamble" their money and be able to 'fool' them.

The analogy doesn't upset me because I think (well just in casual play, I don't watch the professional tournaments on TV or play online) you need to be smart with what emotions you show on your face and be good at controlling that.  I would think you should be able to use that in both games.  Playing online and the professional tournaments on TV kind of take all of this away though.  

Edited September 30, 2019 by Ms Blue Jay