Jon Pardy is a survivor. Now, you’re probably thinking, “Jon Pardy was never on Survivor, he was the winner of Big Brother Canada 2.” That’s true, but while Pardy was never on the reality TV show Survivor, he was the last player standing in a special Survivor-related poker tournament in Las Vegas this past weekend.
A special $100 buy-in private no-limit hold’em tournament was held at Horseshoe Las Vegas on Saturday inside the Hall of Fame Poker Room. The poker tournament was a part of the wedding festivities for Adam Klein, who won Survivor: Millennials vs. Gen X (Season 33) for $1 million back in 2016, and his new wife Kailey Lynn, a renowned gymnast and TikTok star with over 3.1 million followers (she also appeared on Season 9 of Survival Challenge with the author of this article).
While they tied the knot just the night before, Adam & Kailey Klein are both huge fans of poker having taken up the game in recent years. The couple, who currently reside in Las Vegas, have become regular fixtures at Charity Series of Poker (CSOP) events. As such, as a part of their wedding festivities, they wanted to play a little poker with guests.
The private event attracted 34 entrants including Pardy and his fellow Big Brother Canada 2 alum Arlie Shaban, who also happens to be a PokerStars Online Team Pro and recently crushed the ONSCOOP series in Ontario. Both knew Klein via the reality TV community, but of course there was the poker overlap.
Fittingly, there were a bunch of former Survivor contestants at the wedding – such as Jessica Lewis, Zeke Smith, and David Wright, who officiated the ceremony – and several of them partook in tournament including Bret LaBelle, Hannah Shapiro, and Kellyn Bechtold.
However, they all fell short of the money whereas Survivor 33 alum Chris Hammons and Jay Starrett, who has also starred on The Challenge, both made it to the final table and into the money. Hammons ended up exiting in fourth place, while Starrett made it all the way to heads-up play against Pardy. The latter, a Newfoundland native with over $108K in lifetime tournament earnings according to the Hendon Mob, managed to close it out to win the title and $800 prize, the 11th-lowest score of his career.
Adam & Kailey Klein Wedding Tournament Results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jon Pardy | $800 |
| 2 | Jay Starrett | $600 |
| 3 | Chad Kochevar | $450 |
| 4 | Chris Hammons | $250 |
| 5 | Josh Eisner | $180 |
Additionally, both the bride and groom put $50 bounties on themselves. Hannah Shapiro claimed Adam’s bounty while PokerNews’ Chad Holloway collected Kailey’s after flopping a straight with KxJx against her AxAx.
The Latest Survivor Connection
Poker and Survivor have a long history together ever since Jean-Robert Bellande (JRB) became the first poker player to appear on the show back in Survivor: China (Season 15). Not only have well-known poker players such as Ronnie Bardah, Garrett Adelstein, and Jackie Glazier appeared on the show over the years, but plenty of Survivor alumni have ventured into poker including former winners Tyson Apostol, who competed in last weekend’s RunGood Poker Series (RGPS) Reno, and two-time RGPS ring winner “Boston” Rob Mariano, who is currently competing on Deal or No Deal Island.
Mariano’s appearance on Deal or No Deal Island alongside poker vlogger Brantzen Poker was recently highlighted on an episode of the PokerNews Podcast.
Back in 2018, Poker Night in America’s Season 1 Week 10 episode of Poker Night Live! featured former Survivor champs “Boston” Rob Mariano (Survivor: Redemption Island), Tyson Apostol (Survivor: Blood vs. Water), Jeremy Collins (Survivor: Second Chances) and Kim Spradlin (Survivor: One World) playing alongside poker players Jonathan Little and Joe “Stapes” Stapleton.
The low-stakes $5-$5 no-limit hold’em cash game, played at California’s The Gardens Casino, was meant to be both entertaining and fun, but little did the quartet know, their poker game would come back to haunt them.
“They not only played Survivor together they played poker together.”
On the PNIA broadcast, Tyson stated: “If we all find ourselves on the island together we’re definitely going to be the power alliance.”
Boston Rob responded: “Definitely, obviously.”
What may have been a joke or come off as a throwaway line came into play in 2020’s Survivor: Winners at War (Season 40), which brought back 20 former winners of the show.
“They not only played Survivor together they played poker together,” said Survivor: Cook Islands winner Yul Kwon. “They also played with Kim Spradlin and Jeremy Collins, and I remember watching one video where Tyson actually said something to the effect of, ‘Hey, if we’re ever on an island this is going to be the power alliance.’”
Yul proceeded to put together an alliance of one-time winners without close connections to take out the perceived “Poker Alliance.” Upon losing an immunity challenge, the Dakal Tribe began to target Tyson, Kim, and Amber Mariano, the wife of Boston Rob.
“Basically, the single biggest fear that everyone has in the game is that Rob and Amber and this whole poker alliance are gonna dominate,” Yul told Tyson point-blank. “That seems to be galvanizing everyone.
Tony Vlachos, winner of Survivor: Cagayan, echoed those sentiments: “We’ve got to break up the poker alliance.” “The poker alliance is coming back to bite me,” a concerned Tyson expressed in a confessional.
While the poker alliance did ultimately bite Tyson and company, it is a safe bet that the wedding alliance between Adam and Kailey is built last. Congrats to both on their nuptials, and to Jon Pardy on his second documented live tournament win.
PR & Media Manager
PR & Media Manager for PokerNews, Podcast host & 2013 WSOP Bracelet Winner.
