Why Online Poker is More Than a Job For Patrick Leonard
Patrick “pads1161” has a unique approach to achieving poker goals. Anyone who watches his entertaining and educational Instagram stories will see someone hyper-driven to make the next session their best while also having a blast.
Anyone would have seen a poker pro playing at the highest stakes possible, showing regular sessions of 20+ tables running, or giving an hour-by-hour update at the biggest live high-roller tournaments running.
You would have also been privy to some incredible high-stakes poker strategy or even a few clips of Gandalf bopping his head to funky jazz music.
Whatever Pads did, he was having fun and also breaking personal poker achievements at each step of the way.
The partypoker ambassador has shown no signs of slowing down as he continues to battle in the biggest tournaments in both live and online poker.
How Leonard Achieved His Best Year in Poker
At the start of 2022, this mindset was in effect. Pads were determined to make this year a personal best in poker.
Making that a reality was going to be a tall order; Pads, currently ranked 54th in PocketFives Rankings, is one of the most successful poker players of all time and one of the best current online poker players.
He has previously captured the no.1 spot in the PocketFives rankings, and has been on an online poker tear since 2020. During COVID, a peak time for online poker, he went on to finish 17th at the $10,300 partypoker LIVE MILLIONS event at Dusk Till Dawn, capturing $40,000 just before lockdown ensued.
When partypoker ran a bumper online series during this period, Leonard recorded multiple final table appearances in both the Poker Masters series and the WPT Online Championships. This form would continue with him winning multiple SCOOP and WCOOP titles.
In 2020, he recorded his largest ever online cash when he won $1.6 million in the GGPoker WSOP Online Circuit High Roller; in 2021 alone, he won two SCOOP and two WCOOP titles.
But he found 2022 to top the rest somehow. He told PokerListings how this year was his best, what it was like to win his first WSOP bracelet, and his goals for making 2023 his best poker year yet.
“2022 was probably the best year of my career, at least the most memorable,” Leonard says. “I won a few titles, including the SCOOP overall leaderboard and a WSOP bracelet, as well as being very involved in the WSOP Main Event (online).
“Basically, everything I wanted ten years ago I did in this year, and I can’t ask for more really.”
Leonard won a WSOP bracelet, capturing the one piece of poker silverware that had eluded him since his poker career began around a decade ago. It also saw him play in one of the most memorable WSOP events of the 2022 schedule.
Winning WSOP Gold With Espen Uhlen Jorstad
The unique fashion of this came in that it was not in some short-field high roller or mixed-game event. It was in one of the most popular WSOP events on the schedule, the $1,000 Tag Team, which saw 913 tag teams enter.
Even more unique was that his partner during this event was none other than WSOP Main Event Champion Espen Uhlen Jorstad, who won this bracelet unbeknownst that he would be winning another in two weeks.
An Instagram post looking for a partner led to this duo; from then on, the rest was history.
“It was a unique experience, intense and relaxing at the same time,” Leonard recalls. “Relaxing in the sense that you can literally tag out after focusing for so long, but when you're in the hot seat, you want to give it everything.”
What was so fascinating about this fun free-for-all of a tournament was how tough it became down the stretch: with a few tables left, Triton regular Punnat Punsri, online crusher Joao Viera, WSOP Ladies Champion Jessica Teusl and the UK high-stakes pro Harry Lodge were all left in.
Down the stretch, even Jorstad credits Pads with “absurd plays,” things like folding Tens to a 3-bet and getting shown Aces or giving up Jacks and seeing the opponent has Queens. Every play was correct, putting them in a shout heading to the final table.
“You're less likely to be autopiloting on social media or not looking for live tells as you don't want to let your partner down. We came in a short stack, but we were extremely confident.”
A heads-up battle for all the marbles ensued against a top US poker duo in MTT crushers Corey Paggeot and Jamie Kerstetter, both of whom have found regular success on WSOP.com over the past few years.
“I told Espen numerous times that I just couldn't see any iteration of the simulation that we live in that we wouldn't win.”
More absurd plays were made, including a ridiculous 5-bet shove by Jorstad with AJ off-suit - all would result in Espen and Pads holding gold WSOP bracelets at the end.
After the bracelet win, Pads would round off his WSOP series, coming 22nd in the GGPoker WSOP Main Event Online for $91,488 and finding 7th place in the Deepstack Championship for $47,405.
It is fitting that Leonard went on to win the Grand MILLIONS Online event, a partypoker flagship tournament that attracts the best of the best. Beating names like Nacho Barbero, Niklas “Lena900” Astedt, Samuel Vousden, or Christoph Rudolph is something Pads prepares for every Sunday, so this one came as no surprise.
The MILLIONS is one of Europe’s most prestigious poker events, both live and online. The MILLIONS Online KO event attracted almost 1,500 poker players, all vying for the top spot. Being a $1,000 buy-in, it brought both the high-stakes known crushers and talented mid-stakes pros who wanted to make a name for themselves.
It speaks volumes of Leonard’s ability to continue to develop his poker game to today’s standards. On a Day 2 that saw players like Yuri Dzivielevski, Gianluca Speranza, David Yan, and Thomas Muehlocker, he still found a way to get 5th in a hyper-competitive online event.
He is showing no signs of slowing down this year too. All poker operators are boosting their weekly schedule, including Leonard’s online home in partypoker: the site has redone its recurring online events to boost guarantees, creating prizepools of over $3 million each month.
Patrick Leonard’s Poker Plans for 2023: Prepare to Win
So, how will Pads grind and study to make this year comparable?
“My goals are revolved around three key parts of the year,” says Patrick Leonard.
“The Online Series in May and the partypoker MILLIONS Online, where I’ll be grinding 20-30 tables and battling against the best in the world - just intense grinding.
“Then, the WSOP for seven weeks after the Online Series, a period of non-stop poker tournaments."
“Then the Online Series in September, where I’ll once again play every day, 20-30 tables, battling against the best in the world.”
Anyone who follows Patrick Leonard’s Instagram will know that it’s common for him to have this many tables going during a big series. You will be within reason to ask how someone can grind the highest, most intense stakes possible every time they take to the online felt.
“The most important thing is that I enter this period with the right tools physically, mentally, and strategically,” says Leonard.
“I can get more volume in those ten weeks than most players ill in the entire year, and bulking volume like this is one of my strongest skills.
“So between the Online Series in May and now, I’m preparing, getting ready, grinding Sundays, and improving mindset-wise, performance-wise, and physically every day.”
Why Pads Still Loves Poker
When you speak to many mid-stakes and high-stakes pros, they view online poker as a job. Something better than the doldrums of a 9-5 but not something they relish to attack every day.
The lack of enthusiasm and the satisfaction of grinding a win-rate makes poker unenjoyable. You won’t find that attitude with Leonard or other top online pros who battle with him in final tables on Sundays.
When talking about how he gained this driven, disciplined, and consistent approach to his poker career, Leonard points to how he views the online grind.
“I read somewhere that once you change from doing something as your hobby to doing it as your job, you lose a lot of the fun about what you do,” Leonard points out.
“For me, I was so lucky to have big scores early in my career that I always focused on what motivated me and played for fun rather than for money.
“I chased PocketFives leaderboards initially, then SCOOP & WCOOP leaderboards, then live high rollers, then back to online - I just go with the flow.
“I don’t feel like this is a job; I just do what I want to do every day, and most days, that learning, thinking, and playing poker."
“It’s easy to come across as having fun on Instagram rather than it looking staged because it’s literally me doing what I want to do.”
What Success in Poker Means
If you view poker as an arduous climb up a mountain, Pads reached the top a while ago, kicking off his journey back to 2012 when he won a €220 WPT Marbella event for €2,395. When it comes to success in poker, Leonard looks at it in one word: longevity.
“Anybody can win a leaderboard, anybody can win a bracelet, anybody can win a large amount of money playing poker,” Leonard points out. “But the people who are here year in and year out for over a decade, finding a way to battle, showing up, are the ones in poker that I see as successful.
“Growing up as a 20-year old aspiring poker player, I really loved hearing about Daniel Negreanu, Barry Greenstein, Erik Seidel, Doyle Brunson, grinders and stories rather than guys who won the Main Event,” Pads identifies.
“Moneymaker stories never really appealed to me, but guys who grinded in the Taj Mahal in Atlantic City or the Vic in London then took their bankroll to Vegas, those stories really intrigued me and still do.”
