Ronnie Bardah approached the table in my jungle office like he approaches any of the many poker tables he’s frequented for a large chunk of his life. He’s jovial and observational, able to guess I was a fellow northeasterner with only a couple of tells. It’s these skills that won the 35-year-old a World Series of Poker bracelet, as well as made him the record holder for most main event money finishes. But the Massachusetts man is more than cards, as his tough upbringing has put him in touch with his softer side, which he’s ready to bare out on Survivor.

Read on for my chat with Ronnie, and make sure to check in with Parade.com every day for interviews with this season’s contestants and other on-set tidbits. Survivor: Island of the Idols premieres on September 25 with a special 90-minute premiere on CBS.

Tell me about yourself.

I was born and raised in Brockton, Massachusetts. It’s on the south shore, 20 minutes from Boston. Blue-collar town, a lot of famous boxers from there. I’m a professional poker player. I’ve been playing for 16 years now. I cut my teeth at Foxwoods Casino in the mid-2000s, and I had been going there since I was a kid. My parents gambled a bit, so I was always at the casino, dog track, or scratching tickets.

You’ve got a legacy to uphold being from Massachusetts!

I have big shoes to fill. You have a lot of big characters from Boston. Boston Rob, Jeremy Collins, Bret LaBelle, Michele Fitzgerald, that kid Rodney. We have a lot of passion. Boston [expletive] strong.

What’s your history with Survivor?

I’m a big fan. I watched it since it first came out like everyone else, watching another northeastern guy like Richard Hatch win. Then Boston Rob won in Redemption Island. Boston Rob liked to play cards; he went to the World Series of Poker back in ’06 or ’07. And I watched him basically just run over the field. I would catch an episode or two when it was on. But then Anna Khait came on in season 32. I know Anna; I’m friends with her ex-boyfriend. I saw her on the show, and I absolutely loved it. It’s changed a lot, even since Boston Rob won. There’s so much variance now with all the advantages and different idols. There are so many wrenches they’re throwing in now. Before you could go in with a game plan and execute it. Good [expletive] luck now.

How do you feel your upbringing prepares you for this experience?

I grew up in a concrete jungle where people had the mindset to stir up trouble. I knew people who lost their lives due to gang violence. I grew up in a family where my parents split up when I was really young. There were a lot of domestic issues in the house, with social workers coming in all the time. My sister’s going to be out here if I make the loved ones visit; she’s a character. I dealt with a lot of pain and anxiety at 12 and 13 years old. Some of the stuff I’ve seen and been through put tough skin on me. But I’m also a pretty sensitive guy. I have many layers, and you’re going to see them come out. Hopefully, it will be a beautiful thing.

How much did you lean on your sister with everything from your childhood?

My sister and I split apart when I was about 15 and she was 13. She went off to live with my mom. We’re a lot closer now. She recently came out to me, which brought us closer. She’s known since her teens, but it’s been really hard for her. We all have issues, but I love her to death.

What similarities do you find between your career and Survivor?

The game is kind of similar to my life. Being a professional poker player, I’m very sociable, a guy people love to talk to and gravitate towards. One day I’m hanging out with somebody like yourself, and the next day I’m hanging out with a guy with dreads who just did a six-day bid in Sing-Sing. I don’t have a certain type of group of friends. If I put a group together, it’s like looking at the [expletive] Goonies. I’m very good at adapting. And I’ve had friends who are huge superfans of the show tell me, “You’d be great at Survivor.” So when I started watching it, I thought, “Yeah, I think I would be great at Survivor.” Then Millennials vs. Gen X came along, and I said, “I want to play this game.”

You mentioned running in circles with Anna Khait before she went on Survivor. What about Jean-Robert Bellande?

I know Jean. We’re not on a first-name basis. I’m pretty popular in the poker world, but he’s more popular than I am. He’s a big schmoozer who likes to befriend all the millionaires and be in the right place at the right time. We played on a TV show together called Shark Cage. There’s actually a very famous clip from it. This girl from the show was a former Miss Finland and bluffed the [expletive] out of me. And Jean was there encouraging her the entire time!

I think out of the Survivor poker players, he played the second-best. It’s not hard to play better than Garrett [Adelstein]. He made it the farthest, but he was seen as lazy. He just rolled into the merge, literally. I think Anna played the best game out of the three and got pretty unlucky with the swap. You’ve just got to avoid being unlucky, and that’s a hard thing to do.

You currently hold a world record with five consecutive cash-ins at the World Series of Poker. What’s the skill set required to navigate the variance that poker provides?

The main event is a tough tournament. It’s the longest tournament in existence and the Mecca of poker. I’m a feeler more than a thinker. I play the game mostly from my gut and energy. I’ll pick up on certain tells than others won’t. I’m someone who also likes to socialize. I’ll befriend people at the table and beatbox. It plays a big part. People don’t attack you when you’re friendly at the table. They’ll fold to you at times that they usually wouldn’t because they like you.

It’s the same thing on Survivor. People might not attack you because they like having you around for a little while. You boost morale around camp; you’re very fun to be around, you’re charming, you tell a lot of jokes. They can hang out with you, confide in you, relate to you, and love you. You fall in love with people out here, and I’m sure I’ll do the same. In life, I’ve broken my heart tremendously. That’s what you’ve got to do out here. You’ve got to break your own heart in Survivor.

Are you going to tell your tribe that you’re a poker player?

I’m not going to tell them I’m a poker player. I’ll say I work for a company called MadMacro, which makes macronutrient protein bars and healthy cereals. I manage the marketing and sales portion, and I mostly do social media stuff. I go to supermarkets and gyms and I try to get our bars in there. I did do that for a while, but it was a side hustle I did for equity in my friend’s company.

What will people perceive you as?

I’m good at perceiving how people perceive me. That’s Survivor in a nutshell. I know I can come off pretty strong. I have a pretty intimidating look if I don’t smile. I’m going to have to smile a lot more often. I can look like the wheels are turning in my head when I’m not smiling. I get caught thinking a lot. I want to play the dumb guy. And I do have a lot of dumb moments. My friends call me “ACNB,” which means “All Cock, No Brain.” I know I’m an intelligent person, more so street smarts. I’m a guy who sniffs out [expletive] and knows how to get things done. I feel like I’m a mini Renaissance man; I’m above average in every single aspect.

What sort of preparation did you do to get ready for this?

I did an eight-day water fast a month and a half ago. I lost 25 pounds and gained it back in a different way. I did it at Santa Rosa Detox Center in NorCal. It was an amazing experience. I did it to prepare for this game.

What line will you not cross morally in the game?

The only line I’m drawing is that I’m not going to lose my [expletive] with anybody. Unless somebody really disrespects me and say something mean when it’s unwarranted. As irritable or crazy as I might feel out there, I promised myself not to argue. They do a really good job at casting to push those buttons on people. They want to see people go off. I’ve been through way too much to risk a shot at a million dollars by losing it on somebody.

What do you desire in an alliance partner?

Rational people who are easy to read. I don’t want to align myself with the Zekes and the Davids, the guys who are out there constantly thinking. I would want to watch them more than the people who are just happy to be here. But I want to keep an array of people. I’ve got to see who these people are when I approach them on the beach. Those first two days are a crucial part of the game, and you don’t want to see yourself on the outs.

When your tribe visits Tribal Council, would you rather vote on strength or loyalty?

I’d vote on mental strength, someone who’s not going to give up. If you know someone’s never going to give up in an Immunity Challenge, giving their 100%, that’s someone I want to keep around. You go to the gym and you can probably run five miles, but you give up after a mile and a half. You’d be surprised what your body can do. I want to align with those kinds of guys, to use them as a shield.

Which is more important to your game: Strategy or social?

Social. At the end of the day, people want to vote for the guy they love. The games lean more towards the strategic game lately. But people want a good winner, a person they feel good giving the million dollars to. People can go to bed saying, “I like Ronnie. He’s a good guy; he’s going to take care of his dad. He’s going to meet a nice girl and have a family.” A guy like Russell Hantz played a good strategic game, but they just hated him. Social is the biggest part of the game.

When you’re at your lowest low, what’s one memory you’ll pull from to boost your spirits?

I would probably think about being at my grandma’s house in Israel. And some of the books I’ve read, like Man’s Search for Meaning by Victor Frankl. He speaks about living through the Holocaust and the stuff they endured in the concentration camps. We’re playing a game for a million dollars on an island in Fiji. There’s medical around; if something happens, you’re looked after. It’s not that bad. That’s why I have this bracelet that says, “This Too Shall Pass.” I think about some of my friends who weren’t able to get out of my town and didn’t realize how beautiful the world is.

If you could bring one celebrity or fictional character out as your loved one, who would you pick?

Denzel Washington. He’s the man! He would give me a great talk. He’ll give me the motivation to push forward. He’ll come in like in Training Day, click his guns together and say, “Listen, man. This isn’t [expletive]. You’ve made it through this, you’ve made it through that. This is Survivor. So get out there!”

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