Survivor Musings

Parvati during a down and dirty challenge

I was reading some Donkey Island posts today, and some of them reference how the game isn't really about the best poker player making it to the end.  Of course these posts were written by Hoyazo and Jordan, two guys who coincidentally, didn't make it to the end.  :)  Now don't get me wrong, they weren't bitching and whining about their demise.  To the contrary, both have been class acts about what can surely be called upsets.  Unlike others who've been voted off, they know it's all a part of the game, albeit not a fun part.

Hoy said...

One trend I just don't think can be denied at this point is that the vote-off selections have little to nothing to do with poker prowess. Or, should I say, the teams do not seem to be keeping around the people who are perceived to be the best blogger tournament players. The Fish got rid of Al and myself pretty quick on our half of the bracket, and in two chances the Donkeys now voted off Numb and Jordan, surely two of their strongest competitors from a poker perspective. And frankly, I can see the refreshingness to these decisions. I mean, this is not the way that I would be handling the eliminations personally, but it's nice for a change that a bunch of bloggers have gotten together for a tournament series, and yet the ultimate winner of the series is not the person who plays the best in the tournaments.

Jordan said...

In the end, we must ask ourselves which should be emphasized, the poker or the survivor-like aspects (i.e., voting). I would like to see the poker get a bit more emphasis

And they're right.  The point of Survive Donkey Island isn't to find the best poker player (there are plenty of other tourney series' for that) because this game is modeled after the TV series.  In Survivor, the person who is the best at surviving in the wilderness, or the one who's best at the challenges, doesn't necessarily win in the end.  Not at all.  The show isn't really about that.

James in all his oiled up glory

Check out James above.  He was a very hard worker, and do you think he was able to excel at the challenges?  Duh!  With his strength of course he was.  He played twice and did he win either game?  No.  They took his ass out twice.  He was a quiet man and not the most social, which was his undoing.

The show is about relating to your tribe.  It's a strange dicotomy.  On the one hand you want to be useful to your tribe so they keep you around, i.e successful fishing or winning the mook, but on the other hand, the others will want to be up against people that have enemies.  That way at the end, if your opposition has enemies, maybe they won't get as many votes to win.  Someone who hasn't been a team player, has backstabbed someone might be someone you want to take to the end.  You'll look better in comparison.  It's a fine line to walk. 

You have to outplay your opponents, but not just at poker.  At making deals, at being honorable, at building friendships and also, outwitting your tribe..  I got the honorable thing down pat but the rest, not so much.

The key is relating to your tribe when it's under a stressfrul situation.  Being a team player helps, but only to a point.  Of course when the merge is here, we are "no longer playing as teams", but come on, do you really believe that? 

You've been in the trenches working hand in hand with your teammates, developing trust, relationships and then boom, the other half of the players show up.  Do you feel the same way about these near strangers?  Team play doesn't stop after the merge.

That's my problem cuz their team is bigger than ours.  I have to work on the other facet of the game, outlasting.  That's a toughie.

I desperately want to last as long as I possibly can, but truly I'm not sure why.  In the TV show the winner gets One Million Dollars, which is everyone's motivation.  But in the game I'm playing in, the winner gets mebbe $200 (maybe a tad less) which is some nice coin, don't get me wrong, but certainly not my biggest cash.  Factor in that I'm dedicated to this two nights per week, till about 1am, and they are work nights!  The ROI just went down.

Mama doesn't function well on so little sleep, especially when I often have meetings on Mondays that begin promptly at 8:30am.  It's a big commitment for a little cash, yet it's the most fun I've had with online poker in a loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong time.  I just don't want it to end.

I just dragged my ass home from a full day's work, done on 4 hrs sleep.  But we want what we want, and  I want to stay in the game very badly.

So um, don't vote me off.

Play smart.

Josie