The Metagame #007: The Power of Survival

Happy Thanksgiving week! 🦃

Before you splurge on all those Black Friday deals, here’s what’s in store for today:

• How I survived a poker tournament

• Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

• Handling losing streaks

Read time: 3 minutes

Survival = Money

Last week, I was playing in an online poker tournament.

$50 buy-in, where the top 4 players win, with first place receiving a little over $1000.

I was 1 of 5 people left—meaning someone wasn’t taking home any money.

I was short-stacked and didn’t have many chips left.

I needed to survive.

The following minutes were painstaking. I knew I had to wait for someone else with more chips than me to make a mistake and get knocked out if I wanted to profit.

So I waited…

And waited…

And waited…

In poker terms, I was bleeding out.

The few chips I had left were dwindling.

But sure enough, someone else went all-in and lost.

I made it to the bubble and managed to secure a profit.

While I didn't win the whole tournament, I still made money.

That's the power of survival.

Whether it's a poker tournament, a chess game, or a business, surviving is half the game.

If you can outlast your opponents, your chances of winning increase exponentially.

Most online creators burn out and quit.

It's harsh, but it's true.

By simply staying in the game, you increase your luck surface and give yourself a huge advantage.

The hard part is actually staying in the game.

Sometimes, it requires you to play extra passively (like I did during the poker tournament.)

Some may call you scared, but at least you're still playing.

Sure, no one likes being called a coward.

But we only get one shot at life—survival should be your main priority.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is a pyramid with five levels. The bottom represents your most basic needs, like food, water, shelter, etc.

As you make your way up the pyramid, the human needs get more introspective, ending with self-actualization at the top.

This is why the power of survival is key. It's fundamental to the needs of humanity. You can't focus on friends, family, or bettering yourself if your survival needs aren't met.

A lot of my writing has to do with self-improvement. How to master your emotions, why we think and act like we do, etc.

But none of this matters if your physical needs aren't being met.

Taking care of your essential needs is the first step to self-improvement.

Things like sleep, food, exercise, and other basic needs are the foundation of building a successful life.

Without them, any attempts to better other areas of your life are futile.

Dealing With Downturns

If you flipped a coin 1,000,000 times in a row, there would be streaks where you lose dozens in a row.

Don’t believe me? Well, I wrote a script to simulate this.

And the results are fascinating.

The longest streak where the coin landed on the same side was 25 times in a row.

Imagine flipping a coin and landing on heads 25 times in a row.

Sounds impossible, right?

The odds of that happening are (0.5)²⁵ , or 0.00000298%—yet it still happened.

But when you zoom out, the overall odds were still 49.98% to 50.02%.

So, remember to change your perspective the next time you feel like you're spiraling down.

You may be on a losing streak, but there are always winning streaks that follow.

You just need to stay in the game.

Quote of the week

Yes, I used a quote from Transformers. Sue me.

Thanks for reading!

If you have any questions, hit me up on 𝕏 at @sam_starkman, or feel free to reply to this email!

— Sam