A two-part public service warning here: 1) Watching reality television is roughly akin to having a lobotomy without the benefit of anesthesia, so don’t do it, and 2) If you want to waste three months, there’s better ways to do it.
After three months in which she obviously played the best game of anyone in the house – a fact that was acknowledged by her fellow competitors – poker professional Vanessa Rousso’s own success came back to bite her as she was unceremoniously sent out of the competition in third place on the CBS reality show Big Brother.
When we last left the Big Brother compound, Rousso had just split the “bromance” of John and Steve up by sending John to the Jury House, hot on the heels of her being the Head of Household that had busted up the “showmance” of Austin and Liz. “You’ll never win this game without me,” Austin said as he hit the doorway last week, but Rousso’s final two competitors, his “showmance” partner Liz and Steve, didn’t look to be much competition for Rousso. Sure enough, in the first of a three part battle, Rousso locked up one of the slots to determine who would pick the final two players.
Over the last weekend, the second competition was held between Liz and Steve, which called for the two to navigate through an obstacle course and complete a crossword puzzle. Steve was able to do this in a quicker time than Liz, punching his ticket to compete against Vanessa in the third part of the competition to determine who the final two players would be. As soon as Steve was ensconced in that second seat, the intrigue began.
Despite the fact that they both had agreed to a deal to not eliminate the other one, both Rousso and Steve were ready to break that agreement from the moment it was known they were competing against each other. With Rousso’s fingerprints over virtually every part of the Big Brother season – she was Head of Household on many occasions, had been able to work out of tough situations with timely Power of Veto wins, had manipulated other HoH and PoV winners to do her dirty work and was only on the eviction block once before the final five were determined – Steve knew he couldn’t take Rousso to the final two because she had played the game masterfully; likewise, Rousso couldn’t take Steve because of his likeability factor with some of the Jury members (the final nine evictions of the season – Shelli, Jackie, Becky, James, Meg, Julia (Liz’ twin), Austin, John and the “odd man out” from the final three).
In the final competition, host Julie Chen asked both Rousso and Steve several “A or B” questions about their former houseguests and what they would say in response to questions about their stay in the Big Brother house. Steve took an early lead but, with only two questions to go, Rousso was able to tie up the competition when Steve tripped up on a question. It would eventually come down to the final question, which Steve answered correctly to win the final competition. Once the threesome was drawn back into the living room, Steve dropped the bomb that he had been waiting to release: sending Rousso home in third place as he bawled more crocodile tears than can be found in the Okefenokee Swamp.
For her part, Rousso conducted herself as if she had been eliminated from a tournament. She quickly composed herself and even accepted the blabbering of both Steve and Liz in their apologies before leaving the house with her head held up. In the eviction chair being interviewed by Chen, Rousso admitted that she would have done the same thing to Steve without any guilt and didn’t question any part of the game she played. During the gathering of the Jury and the previous six houseguests who had been eliminated, she finally informed everyone in the game who she was and her success as a poker player to the respectful acknowledgement of her fellow competitors.
The final two now faced the Jury and it wasn’t even a contest. Despite the factor he was ineffective through much of the competition, Steve played more of a role in the Big Brother house than his opponent, Liz, and he had been able to link in a friendly manner with many of the Jury members (despite being about as social as wallpaper). As such, he would be the one to win the Jury vote, 6-3 (the three votes for Liz? Her sister, her “showmance” and Rousso, who probably wanted to ram the $500K somewhere inappropriate) and take down the $500,000 first prize. Liz was able to take home the $50,000 consolation prize and as for Rousso? She gets paid the per diem that comes along with appearing on a television show.
It is thought that the next poker professional taking part in a reality program will be Anna Khait’s turn on the next Survivor series (not the one that started on Wednesday night but the one which will air in early 2016). Unfortunately, poker’s fandom may not be as willing to put up with watching one of their own on a reality program lose again, especially after Rousso’s well-deserved run in Big Brother that should have netted her the victory instead got her the final seat on the Jury, truly the definition of “all or nothing.”
I find it interesting that you choose to belittle Steve’s crying in the finale when your hero Vanessa cried like a little bitch in nearly every episode. Biased much? Vanessa lost because she’s an unlikable bitch. Period.
Very biased report as all other sites report Vanessa’s sour grapes after failing to win BB by bribing players to throw comps and evictions with cash, new cars, trips, splitting, staking, jobs and more. She was warned frequently about cheating and it’s all on 24/7 feed transcripts. She tried to use everyone to win her game for her and she got used too. While she targeted all strong players, the only option was to let her steamroll, until the end. Ironically, she lost the easiest comp, which her opponent wouldn’t throw, and which required she get to know other players, listen to them, instead of playing dictator.
If her background wasn’t enough of an advantage, she was cast with recruits from Tindr and waiting tables who’d never seen the show before. Her sobbing. crying, bullying, screaming she was known for since her early poker career, she continued throughout BB, causing viewers to shut it off. You can be a fan, even a fanatic, but fairness is important to your credibility as a magazine in both articles and comments. TV Guide which is owned by CBS, covers casting mistakes and Vanessa’s unorthodox play more fairly. I would agree though, if she’s anything like Vanessa and similarly lacks social skills, you’re next poker player is going to have problems winning Survivor too. There’s no comparison to gaming skill in poker and these entertainment shows designed and edited for soap opera appeal.