‘Survivor: Kaoh Rong’ exclusive: Anna Khait on tribe swap, strategies, hopes to play again

Going into “Survivor: Kaoh Rong,” it was incredibly easy to project Anna Khait as the sort of player who was going to extremely well. How do you bank against someone who is smart, athletic, and has a job as a professional poker player that requires such a large understanding of strategy?

Unfortunately, last night’s episode probably draws one of the biggest parallels possible between “Survivor” in poker in that sometimes, the cards are stacked against you. Thanks to a tribe swap Anna went from being a potential ringleader to on the bottom, and after Tai Trang opted to not use his immunity idol on Peter, she was voted out. We spoke with Anna this morning about her exit, her time in the game, and of course her interest in going back to the game somday.

CarterMatt – So is it flattering to know that there were so many people who picked you the win the game, or does that make it more frustrating because you didn’t have a chance to make it further?

Anna Khait – It was really flattering to hear that so many people picked me to win, especially some old Survivors and former contestants and people who I really respect in terms of gameplay. It was exciting to hear about it, but of course it was really frustrating. It was disappointing that I let them down; I think I gave it my best, and I never would go out without a fight. It stinks to not live up to what they thought or I thought I could be.

Well, do you blame the tribe swap mostly for what happened to you, or do you think that there is anything else you could have done to save yourself?

I think the tribe swap really did me in. Specifically, 24 hours before that I was at the top of my tribe with the two girls and two guys, ready to coast through [the game]. It’s that type of awesome twist that you add to the game. It’s exciting, you get to play the game more, and I was excited because it’s kind of boring if it’s just three girls and two guys and you pick them off. I wanted to play the game! I hoped that I wouldn’t lose numbers, but I wanted to play the game with more people and focus on the middle part of the game.

When I heard about the swap and I had lost numbers, where it was three Brains and then two Beauty and one Brawn, I was in a horrible spot right off the bat. What really did me in was the fact that Julia was coming to take the spot of whoever was eliminated so [Tai and I] had a target on our backs. Especially me. I really didn’t have much of an option; it was 3, 2, and 1, and Julia was going to come in and take Tai or my spot. The logical thing to go with is to get rid of me. That extra twist with Julia was the final nail in the coffin; I fought my butt off and I tried my best. I tried a few different scenarios, but they had their minds made up. It was pretty clear. I knew that Peter was on the bottom, but the Brains didn’t want to lose numbers and I completely understand that. They can use Peter as a number and then get rid of him later.

I think unfortunately, there’s a lot of skill and strategy involved in games like poker and ‘Survivor,’ but at the same time there’s also Lady Luck.

How much was Tai or some of the other people aware of how close you were to Michele and Julia?

I think Tai was aware that we were close. When we had the tribe swap, I tried my best to dissociate myself from the girls. I told them that ‘I don’t like Michele’ and that we had a problem, I was painting her as ‘we’re not close.’ They were afraid of a girl alliance, which was understandable.

I’m pretty sure Tai told them. Off the bat I told them that I didn’t trust Nick and I didn’t get along with Michele; I said I liked Julia, but said that everyone else was manipulative. I tried to throw Tai under the bus as much as I could in a very nonchalant way where I would plant little seeds and hope it would work out for me.

I think Tai told them that I was close to Julia, and that made it easier for them to want to vote me out … If Julia was to come in and take Tai’s spot, you would naturally assume that the girls would have a better relationship than a girl and guy. I really didn’t have a chance.

Did you know about Scot taking Tai away and talking to him about the idol before last night?

I did not. ‘Survivor’ and CBS are exactly what they are, and they don’t tell us anything. We watch with all of America, so everything’s really tightly-knit.

I was shocked! I was shocked about Scot knowing about the idol with Jason and the super-idol. It was pretty certain and pretty clear that I was going home, but Tai talked with me and said ‘Anna, I’m going to do this tonight. I love playing this game. Let’s get out Peter. Let’s do it.’

Tai told me that about half an hour before tribal, so ten minutes before tribal something happened where Scot was like ‘let me talk to you.’ That is when he got into his head and got him to change the plan, which originally was to blindside Peter, have the numbers, Julia comes in, we have the numbers, we get with Jason, we get with Cydney, and we can just run the game. It would’ve been awesome! Scot made a good move in getting me out. I considered myself a threat in the game; I was very analytical, and I had a lot of [strategies] that would have helped me out.

So he worked to get rid of me, and that was a good move on his part. I attribute that to Scot getting Tai to change his mind last-minute.

In terms of Peter, we saw Tai say that he really rubbed him the wrong way out there, and that was a reason why he wanted him out. Did you have a similar experience in regards to his attitude?

In the game, it’s not personal. Peter didn’t rub me the right way, but that wasn’t why I wanted to go after him. For me, Peter told me right off the bat ‘Joe doesn’t strategize. Don’t worry about Joe.’ Then, Joe told me ‘we don’t like Peter.’ These are great things to hear! I needed something to work with. (Laughs.) It wasn’t a bad situation, you know?

We were originally going to go after Peter, but my reads on Joe and Aubrey were that they weren’t going to vote him out. Aubry was upset at Peter for writing her name down, I had heard about what happened with Liz, but when we were talking about getting rid of Peter their body language was clear that they were not going to get rid of him. Joe was looking me in the eye, and he was just very quiet, and Aubry wasn’t as excited as you would be to get someone like that out. I’d be jumping up and down! So once that was clear, I had to try and find another way. They knew that numbers were important, and they could get rid of a Beauty and have the numbers again. Then, they’ll keep going. They knew right away that they were keeping the numbers strong. It was very clear to me that Peter was going to be [in danger], and I thought about telling him that other people were conspiring against him, but then I thought he’d ruin everything and tell Aubry and Joe, say ‘she’s a schemer’ and to ‘get rid of her.’ I didn’t want to take a chance with him.

Ultimately, [targeting him was simple because] I knew he was at the bottom, and I knew he was a good person to go after.

I know you’ve probably been compared a little bit to Kelley Wentworth, who went out early [the first time] but came back and did really well. How excited would you be for a chance to go back and do this again?

I don’t really watch a lot of TV to be honest with you, but ‘Survivor’ has always been my favorite game. I got into it when I was seventeen, I got my friend into it, and all I’ve done for the past ten years is talk about poker and ‘Survivor.’ Always. I probably annoy people with how much I talk about it.

So if I was lucky enough to have a chance to go and play my favorite game … I would 100% go. I’ve learned a ton living through it, and I’d love to go back. I had a lot of big plans, but I never had an opportunity to make a big move. We never lost an [immunity challenge on the Beauty tribe], and if we had America would have seen that I’m very strategic, and I was kind of ruling it for a long time. I don’t want to be cocky, but I was really confident that I was ready to make moves. It was a fun game! I’d love the opportunity to play again.

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