From Captain to Table Captain
If you’ve followed my career for a bit, you won’t have to look back far to see evidence of me dealing with adversity.
I started off my hyped and eagerly anticipated (by at least myself!) return to high-stakes poker – the Galfond Challenge – by losing 45 buy-ins straight. Over $1 million, on a big stage, in front of everyone.
Some players can’t imagine losing that amount of money or facing that amount of pressure and embarrassment on a big stage, and then not only continuing to play but fighting back and actually winning.
People often ask me how I handled it – how I didn’t crumble under the pressure. And I’ve spoken about it with pride, thinking, “I guess I am pretty tough!”
Just a couple of weeks ago, I had the pleasure of being part of a small group that sat and spoke with a very impressive man – Captain Charlie Plumb.
As it turns out, he’s experienced things even more challenging than losing at a card game while sitting comfortably behind a computer in a Vancouver luxury apartment.
The Captain
If you’d like to read the full list of Captain Plumb’s accomplishments, a quick Google search will get you there.
You’ll learn about his role in the start of the Navy Fighter Weapons School, otherwise known as “Top Gun.”
You’ll read about his 74 successful combat missions as a Navy fighter pilot.
And, next, you’ll read about his 75th mission, which took place just five days before the end of his tour – a mission during which he was shot down over Hanoi, Vietnam, where he’d spend the next 2,103 days as a Prisoner of War.
This particular mission, his years as a prisoner, and the physical and emotional torture he endured, would form the main topics of our conversation.
I was particularly eager to ask him how he overcame adversity that few of us could imagine surviving, and how he could explain his incredible mindset.
A Mindset Miracle
While I was engrossed by everything Captain Plumb shared with us, what piqued my curiosity more than anything was the unfathomable statistic he shared with us:
He said that 36% of US Vietnam Veterans dealt with PTSD – a heartbreaking and unsurprising truth.
And then he asked what we thought that number would look like for the 591 POWs who returned home with him, most of whom endured years of captivity and torture.
I couldn’t imagine. 70%? 85%?
No, he said.
Four percent.
And many of those who did suffer from PTSD, he said, were the ones who arrived towards the end and were in captivity for the shortest amount of time.
In fact, a new term was created to explain what happened to most of these remarkable prisoners:
PTG – Posttraumatic Growth.
Not only did they survive the experience and come out of it in one piece. They came out stronger.
A Wire, a Will, and a Way
Charlie then told us about his early days in his 8’ by 8’ cell, accompanied only by his own thoughts and the occasional rat or snake.
As a student of mindset, I was on the edge of my seat.
Through an excruciatingly long process, he finally learned to communicate with the prisoner in the cell next to him through tugging on a wire in specific patterns.
One of the first messages he received from his neighbor, Lieutenant Commander Robert H. Shumaker, was: “Pull up your big boy pants. There’s no whining in this prison camp.”
Upon hearing this, I asked Captain Plumb a question: “How long did it take from the time he told you to change your attitude to you actually changing your attitude?”
Lesson One: Forgiveness
Charlie said that for the first three or four months of his stay in what his fellow POWs jokingly dubbed the Hanoi Hilton, he was filled with anger, hate, and vitriol.
Hate for the guards and the camp commander who imprisoned and tortured him, anger at the war, at the president, and anger at (and disappointment in) himself for not accomplishing his mission and being shot down.
For months, he blamed the world, and himself, for what had happened and where he was.
It wasn’t until he forgave everyone, himself included, that he was able to shift his mindset into the one which allowed him to not only survive, but thrive.
Forgiveness at the Tables
In a past issue of this newsletter, I discussed the importance of taking responsibility for your results — of not blaming other people or other factors (namely, bad luck) for your failures.
I am now thinking of forgiveness as another step in that same direction – as an extension of accountability and acceptance.
I take responsibility for my results, even if other people or the so-called poker gods may have made it harder for me to succeed. Instead of blaming whatever obstacles have been thrown at me, I forgive them and accept the outcome.
Lesson Two: Curiosity
In what was more of a casual, almost throwaway sentence in Captain Plumb’s discussion of turning his mindset around, he said:
“I knew there was some purpose here. And I challenged myself to find out what it was.”
This, to me, was an incredible example of curiosity in action.
Rather than simply being miserable about his circumstances, he got curious.
What could he learn from this? How could he grow from the experience?
Curiosity at the Tables
Whether you believe that God or the universe has a plan for you or you think it’s all random, you can recognize that any situation can be a learning experience.
Imagine you’re on a big buy-in downswing. (Cue half of you saying “I don’t have to imagine!”)
How can you use this experience to better yourself?
What is there to learn from the way you’re feeling?
Are you motivated by it?
Use this as fuel to improve your game!
Think about how you could tap into this motivation without needing to lose your shirt first.
Are you demotivated by it?
Use this as an opportunity to work on your mindset.
What practices can get you back on track? What things throw you back off, and why?
Curiosity is one of the best antidotes to unhappiness.
Lesson Three: Leadership and Community
Charlie credits leadership for the unbelievable outcomes for he and his fellow POWs.
Even when they were in individual cells, secretly communicating through a less efficient Morse-code-like language, they were a team.
And the leaders of that team were able to organize and even coordinate action from the group.
The leaders were setting the rules and expectations for everyone, including the no-whining rule.
And while he didn’t credit it in the same way he did their excellent leadership, Captain Plumb spoke about the importance of connection.
Making contact, communicating, and bonding with the other POWs was clearly a key part of maintaining his strong mindset.
Community within Poker
While poker isn’t a team sport, the benefits of learning, collaborating, and bonding with a group of players are numerous.
Many in poker understand the value of studying strategy and knowledge-sharing within a group, but they often underestimate the mental and emotional value.
Leadership isn’t always as easy to come by in our game, and it comes with risks — the wrong ones can lead you astray.
So, though it’s possible to find yourself in a large community of players with true hierarchy and leadership, I don’t think it’s necessary.
A small group of friends can do wonders for you. This happens to be the way I’ve learned for most of my career — surrounded by like-minded pros, trying to support each other and improve ourselves.
Roles have sometimes emerged — even hierarchies on occasion. But it’s the connection and collaboration that’s the true magic.
All of the biggest leaps in my game have come during the times I studied with others.
A Closing Note
Of all the inspiring lessons Captain Plumb shared with us, I chose to highlight these three in my newsletter, as they resonated with me and stood out as particularly relevant to poker. I hope you found them as enlightening as I did!
Fortunately for all of us, Captain Plumb has gone on to share his whole story with the masses. There’s a lot more you can learn from Captain Plumb’s keynote speeches and his book, I’m No Hero.
I bought I’m No Hero right after speaking with him, which I’m sure will continue to put in perspective the “toughness” we all strive to exhibit at the poker table.
