Poker at Victoria's Casino

I’m a pretty minimalist person, so the only item I brought back from Denmark (other than gifts for friends and relatives, which I obviously do not have with me) was a 1£ poker chip from Victoria’s Casino in London. Victoria’s Casino is in a quiet little spot in Marylebone, London, but they have a solid poker room scene. When I checked in there, I had to get a membership to play, and I played 1£/1£ No-limit Hold-em at a full table (7-8 players total).

Just touching the chip with my hands (poker players frequently fiddle with their chips while thinking) reminds me of being back at the table. I can still feel hints of the adrenaline rush from playing, even though I didn’t play any huge pots. I remember that I’m all by myself, just a kid in a room of men. I was both scared and excited.

Studying and playing poker has taught me some lessons that are applicable to life more broadly:

• You get out what you put in.
• If you’re lucky enough to get dealt pocket aces, your life will be easy. But chances are you won’t. So make something out of the cards you do have.
• Even if you put a lot of money in the pot, sometimes you have to let it go before you lose more.
• You can do everything right but end up losing.
• You can not try and still get lucky and win. But don’t count on it.
• Don’t tilt.

Why don’t I have other items from my study abroad?

Well I’m trying to be a minimalist, so I did my whole trip with only one carry-on bag (no wheels), mostly because the WowAir policy charges you like 90 dollars for check-in luggage. This caused me some inconveniences: I had to go to buy blankets, my carry-on bag was heavy, I didn’t have that much clothes to wear. But mostly it was worth it, and I realized that I don’t actually need that many posessions to be happy.