There’s a hostage situation on Australian Survivor this week. It’s a bold strategy by AJ to take control of the game. But will it pay off or blow up in his face?
Ever since host Jonathan LaPaglia told everyone to drop their buffs and form new Brains and Brawn tribes, there’s been turmoil. Now AJ, a gamer and poker player who’s found himself on the new Brawn tribe, is taking advantage of that.
“I just tried to play the board as it was,” he tells TV WEEK. “The hostage situation was very, very unique.”
AJ’s plan is to convince the new Brains tribe to throw a challenge by threatening to vote out OG Brawns if they don’t. He’s got it all worked out – the plan, the backup plan, who’s expendable and who’s not.
“If I got them to throw the challenge, it was a win/win situation,” he explains.
At the same time, he knows his hostage strategy is putting a target on his back.
“When you make a move like that you are very vulnerable because you’ve shown your hand.”
AJ thinks being a gamer for most of his life has taught him the strategy needed for Survivor.
“I’ve played a lot of strategy games in the past like Yu-Gi-Oh!, Vs. System, Magic: The Gathering… I’m a really nerdy guy.”
But he thinks what’s prepared him even more is playing poker with people who have “too much money” and just want to have fun.
“When they play poker with me it’s like they’re buying a movie ticket and I’m the entertainment.”
Survivor, AJ believes, is as much a social game as a strategy game.
“I would eat the minimum amount of food, I would always give up my space in the shelter, I would always chop up coconuts and hand them out to everybody, whatever it was, because social capital was what let me make big moves.”
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