Patrick Leonard: Tips for staying happy!

Tips for staying happy!

I’ve always been a bit of a nerd. Friday nights and Saturday nights which I would take off playing I would use to study poker and during the week I’d miss social stuff so that I could play a tournament schedule online. So, one thing I am good at is immersing myself in the game and maintaining contact with people virtually! Not everyone is like me but I thought I’d give my key advice for staying happy and healthy and keep enjoying the game.

1 – Routine!

By far the most important thing for success is routine. If your sleeping pattern changes daily, you have no chance. You need to leave the office at the same time every day, go to bed at the same time every day and wake up at the same time. If not, you’ll be falling asleep on your computer and really struggling to cope against those who are used to it.

2 – Don’t get attached to results

Its very important to play within your bankroll. If you have a losing session normally you can go to the park, unwind with friends at the pub, go to the cinema or whatever else. Right now we don’t have these luxuries, so the downswings may hurt more than they used to. Playing a little bit smaller is a great tactic as it means the losses don’t hurt doubly hard and you can maintain it as a fun hobby.

3 – Set up a daily call with friends

Everybody is in the same boat! There are so many people who are at home, studying and playing poker. Do it together and chat to other people about it! It will keep you energised and you will have somebody to rail if your session doesn’t go too great.

4 – Go back to basics

It can seem at times we have forgotten all our knowledge, we are lost, are we the fish?!!? But if you talk to a person new to poker, whether it be a girlfriend or a boyfriend, a friend, a mother or a father and you try and explain the basics, you’ll remember being in that position and just how far you’ve come and how deep the complexities of your skill set is now. It’s definitely morale boosting and it’s nice to have a fun home game with friends and family when we can!

There’s so much great stuff on at partypoker at the moment, even though the circumstances are unfortunate. I hope that my suggestions above are useful in keeping healthy and happy and responsibly enjoying online poker at the moment.

Next up for me is the WPT Online which has mini and micro versions of the main events running daily so it means there’s something for all bankrolls. This is the first time WPT have run an online series and I’m really looking forward to it. I hope to see some of you at the tables.