Jean-Robert Bellande

Jean-Robert Bellande was born on September 17, 1970, in New York, to a family of Haitian immigrants. At age five, his family moved to Taiwan, where his mother served as a Christian missionary. He spent 13 years there, learned Mandarin, and later returned to the US, where he graduated from Azusa Pacific University with a degree in marketing. Before poker, Jean-Robert built a career promoting nightclubs and restaurants in Hollywood.

He got into poker in the early 2000s. His first big breakthrough came in 2005: a third-place finish at the WSOP Circuit Championship Event ($210,900) and a win at the Winnin' o' the Green tournament ($148,000). Bellande quickly built a reputation for his aggressive style, constant trash talk at the table, and willingness to play well beyond his bankroll. He became a regular on Poker After Dark, High Stakes Poker, and other TV shows, where his energy and loose style earned him the nickname Action Bob.

One of Bellande's wildest hands happened in a Triton cash game. After Yu Liang opened from UTG and both Tom Dwan and Rob Yong called from the blinds, Jean-Robert decided to squeeze with 5-3 suited. Liang, holding AK offsuit, naturally four-bet — and here's how Bellande himself later described what came next: he sensed his opponent wasn't fully comfortable with the spot, trusted that read, and shipped it in expecting a fold. Liang didn't fold, and took down a $750,000 pot.

Tournament success took much longer to arrive. It wasn't until 2018, at age 47, that Jean-Robert won his first — and to date only — WSOP bracelet, in the $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em, for $616,302. In January 2026, he recorded his career-best cash, winning the $100k Onyx High Roller in Cyprus for $1,500,000. Outside of tournaments, Bellande has been a regular in the highest-stakes cash games in Las Vegas and around the world, showing up on Hustler Casino Live, Venetian Poker Live, and Triton. His second nickname, BrokeLivingJRB, came out of a rough stretch in the 2010s, when he busted his bankroll more than once but always found his way back to the tables.

Beyond poker, Jean-Robert is known for his run on the Chinese version of Survivor — Survivor: China — where he kept his tribemates entertained and famously ate raw eels along the way. In 2018, he married Veronica Llamas; the couple now has three children — twins Axel and Bella, and a son, Maxwell.

These days, Jean-Robert Bellande isn't the reckless gambler he once was back in the 2000s — family and raising his kids come first now. Even so, he remains one of the most colorful and respected veterans in the game, a man who's lived through plenty of highs and lows but never lost his love for poker.