Rob and Amber Making a Real[ity] Living

Rob and Amber Making a Real[ity] Living by Roxanne McDonald

Rob and Amber Mariano have obviously found their working niche: by way of Survivor, Amazing Race, a publicly aired wedding, and now a poker career/reality TV show.

Rob and Amber Mariano have obviously found their working niche: by way of Survivor, Amazing Race, a publicly aired wedding, and now a poker career/reality TV show.

Rob offers a rational on his and his wife’s new show “Rob and Amber: Against the Odds� when he says that there is no way he can go back to doing construction work for a living. While he explains that he and amber have been all over the world, he also admits to being in love with or

obsessed with poker, now—all of which (the travel, the Vegas scene) are far too exciting to give up.
Amber is not so convinced, wishing for some down time in their Pensacola home where she can stay in one place, garden, do domestic duties, and just relax from being always on the go for the last five years. Amber also fears failure (losing their Survivor winnings, for starters) and chooses—in the first episode—to be the more rational one of the two, telling Rob at one point that he is not a poker star but a simple reality star, so, she tells him, he should deal with it.

Rob has rational moments of his own. He explains how fortunate he and Amber have been to have such wonderful opportunities (as those afforded by “Survivor�, “Amazing Race,� and now, “…Against the Odds�)…but they would not have had any of them had they not been willing to take the necessary risks. Good point, Boston.

Also noticeable in the first episode of “Rob & Amber: Against the Odds� is how respectful each is toward the other. Sure, they have tiffs and a couple of major disagreements, but Amber says to the cameras that while she is scared [of such a risk as signing on as a professional poker player’s wife], she also wants to be a supportive wife. And Rob says that while he may have had his feelings hurt by her what-if-we-lose reaction, Amber is his wife and he loves her and will comply with her final decision of whether or not to risk a Vegas venture.

Amber brings even more steady, logical thinking to the dynamic that is Rob and Amber by informally interviewing those she trusts about the possibilities of Rob playing poker professionally, she takes time to think seriously about the pros and cons, she listens to her mother’s advice to walk on the beach and do so, and she comes up with a

brilliant “compromise� of sorts: they will move to Vegas for three months; at the end of three months’ time, they will review how much they have lost or won, will discuss how they have been emotionally impacted, and will then reassess for the future goals and risks, etc..
Now I would like to see one of the other “Survivor� bathing beauties come up with such a thoughtful plan. Then again, none of them have made a living at being reality TV features four times over….

3 Comments »

1. I watched the premiere episode and it seemed so hokey… it was very obviously staged as when Rob pretended he was going to tell Amber about his dream of playing pokey. Give me a break! They are not actors - this is a reality show - don’t insult me with fake reality! I’ll watch one more but I must say this one is halfways in the grave for me… Mike

   Comment by webmaster — January 15, 2007 @ 3:13 pm

2. The previews for the upcoming episodes of this show are hilarious! I can’t wait to see what Rob’s reaction is when Amber tells him that he’s just a reality star, not Brad Pitt. I mean, she’s completely right. While the first episode may have seemed “hokey”, it’s necessary to set up the series. I’m definitely going to watch the rest of this to see how it all pans out for them. And how great is Daniel Negreanu?

   Comment by yobe44 — January 16, 2007 @ 12:51 pm

3. I, too, caught how the decision, announcement, and discussion seemed staged. However, I trusted that it had to be scripted as I figured Rob decided on his new goal and presented it to Amber far in advance of their deciding and planning to make a show out of it. So all the fussing and finagling had to be repeated for us. Right?

   I forgive them this sin in the same way I accept other reality shows editing in and out must-see stuff.

   Hey, Romber beats Jessica and Nick…or is that too ancient a show to use to compare?

   Comment by roxanne — February 9, 2007 @ 4:53 pm

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