Rant: We Need More Broke-Living JRBs in the $1m Big One

Doyle Brunson, Erik Seidel and Jean-Robert Bellande. 

The first seemed to come from irritance; the second came from a lack of time.

The third felt a little bit like I was getting big-timed.

The Man Who Sold the World an Illusion

I remember thinking he would be a shoe-in for an interview because he was a desperate man; a view that I had gleaned from his "@BrokeLivingJRB" personae.

He sold the world an illusion and I, for one, fell for it hook, line and sinker.

Now the man who has been broke more times than plates in a Greek kitchen (so he'd have us believe) is playing in the richest poker tournament in the world.

He's sold us a good story ... but is it real?

 

It could quite possibly be one of the feats of the summer.

Think about it.

JRB has persuaded someone to stump up a hefty portion of $1m because that person believes JRB has some skill and savvy. That person is now crossing his or her fingers, toes, balls or labia in the hope that Bellande takes his run good in life into the land of the lauded 56.

I think JRB’s inclusion in the biggest game in the world is a great thing for poker and the longevity of this particular tournament.

I also believe a JRB victory would send it into a stratospheric realm that no other member of the 56 could take it.

Why? Because he is the underdog.

A Six-Foot Tall, Walking Bad Beat Story

I'm discounting the role of "the businessmen" in this situation because I don’t think a businessman win does anything for the enhancement of this event. They just don’t make very good protagonists in this particular fairy tale.

I need my protagonist to have a little darkness about him. An edge.

A belief that you're not quite getting what you're seeing. A maverick; someone who picks up the rulebook of life and tears sheets away to wipe the shit from his arse.

And what are good stories all about anyway? Love, survival, self-esteem, safety, security and a sense of belonging.

That sounds like JRB to me.

I want JRB to win because he’s not supposed to. It’s not his job to win.

His job is to be the bridesmaid. A six-foot tall, walking bad-beat story.

Would a JRB miracle send poker into stratosphere?

 

It's JRB vs. Goliath

But what if JRB does win? Then the story changes and his personae dies. We need to kill him off and go in search of a new hero.

This is why I keep banging on about the $10m guarantee in the $10,000 WSOP Main Event. It really bothers me that this money is just going to be added on top of a rather large pile of money.

That’s not inspiring. That’s dull. It does nothing to change the storyline. It doesn’t enhance the plot.

It doesn’t pick our protagonist up and dump him or her in a strange new world because once he or she wins the $10k main event, he or she's already there.

We need more JRBs in the $1m Big One for ONE DROP and the best starting point is a non-refundable entry into the biggest game on earth for the man or woman who manages to luck box his or her way through a satellite field of a gazillion players.

It keeps the dream alive. It keeps the underdog in the competition.

It’s classic JRB v Goliath.