How to Top the Bodog Poker TLB

Smith "nevertilt22" topped Bodog Poker's Yearly Tournament Leader Board for the last two years. In his latest poker advice column he offers up some tips on how to propel yourself to the top

May 30, 2008

By Smith Collins
Bodog Nation Contributing Writer

Throughout the past two or three years, I was dedicated to winning the Tournament Leader Board on Bodog and used a few simple strategies that I believe helped propel myself to winning that TLB two years in a row. Using these tips in and of themselves will not just allow you to rise to the top, but it will cause an improvement for sure if you aren't already doing these things.

Smith Collins at the 2007 WSOP.

Since we are talking about strategy from a TLB standpoint and not in terms of profit, we will ignore the fact that this first tip may seem to be slightly negative value for your bankroll.

What I recommend is that if you were just starting up all of your tables for the night and you register for everything you usually play, you should also register for extra tournaments that can give you more points if you win them. Most TLB races are very close and can be decided by one win, making it imperative to get in as much volume as possible so that even bad luck will not slow you down.

Some sessions you might end up losing all of the major poker tournaments you were playing, and now you have all of these other ones to fall back on that you didn't think you would have room for. Other times, you might find yourself cashing in the first three big tournaments you sign up for while blinding yourself out of two other smaller tournaments in the process. Most players are guilty of doing this because they don't see any value in folding a $5 buy-in tournament every day just in case they need some extra points. But what they don't realize is that if you are actually winning the prizes from the TLB, those prizes will more than pay for your lost buy-ins! By doing this, you will, in the end, risk very little and give yourself an advantage over the other TLB grinders trying to get the No. 1 spot.

Also, by making sure that you are always well rested when you play and staying focused on every showdown you see at every table, you can ensure that you are playing your best poker possible, which is always needed when playing against other TLB racers. Finally, I recommend taking only a day to a day and a half off that week, or five days off that month, depending on which leader board you are trying to win.

This is what I have found to be the happy medium between playing a high enough volume to be a contender and finding a good balance between work and play. Hopefully, these tips will help move everyone up a few spots. Good luck at the tables!

PHOTO: Smith "nevertilt22" Collins