Making a living with STT SNGs

Originally posted by Warrior21
Hello from Athens Greece,

A few months ago i decided to play 6 max sngs on Stars. I started watching some videos and read some articles but i never really did a serious analysis of my game. Anyway i quickly moved up to $3.5 6max sngs keeping a bankroll of 100 bbs. At this lvl maybe half of the players on the tables are complete ignorants to say the least. But after playing 1000 games and going to a 50 BIns downswing by losing nearlly every allin, i mean i wish i could show u my Poker Traker graph, i finally lost confidence and quit. I know that the sample of 1000 games is not big but when i have a sample of 1024 allins with 2 and 3 players that 80000 chips under expected EV it really hurts u alot. My point is u have to be mentally ready for these swings and very importantly have the bankroll to get through them alive. If u continue to improve your game and deal with these downswings i am sure u will make it. I for once started grinding 6max cash but this time i am well prepared and i plan to make it.

I wish u all the best my friend and pls continue to keep us informed with your progress:)

Hello to Greek friend

I am glad you shared your story here. It reminds me of my story for 3.5$ 6 max on stars. I was running below ev for about 200$ worth which is about 60 buy ins below ev I played about 1200 turneys and then moved to 6 max 5.5 euro on Microgaming.
I think you brought some very interesting points in your post. I was in the beginning stressful but I don't have that worry now since my coach/steaker covers all the buy ins. I have 9 months left on my contract and until then I will not worry a single day about money. My goal is to play and study improve a lot so that money comes as a prize
I actually tried yesterday 11 euro buy in and it didn't seem that much of a big a deal. I think I can be profitable on them but to be on the safer side coach decided that we start with them exclusively from 1st of November. I have homework to do but I am very excited and keen every day to move to new limit

I will definitely keep you informed of progress and I recommend you try again 3.5$ 6 max on stars and then move to higher buy in where EV+ game will make more sense

I will update blog today or tomorrow with new information regarding graph + rakeback races from site and affiliate

Hey man, just marking this blog so I can follow it.

Good luck from another Serbian player ♠_thumbsup:

Oh, and tell Gerovit to update his blog ♦

Originally posted by bjela
Hey man, just marking this blog so I can follow it.

Good luck from another Serbian player ♠_thumbsup:

Appreciate it man, good to hear from fellow Serbian player
Will check out your blog also

Just came across your blog here man. Really enjoyed reading it so I hope you can find the time to keep it going now as I am going to follow it if you do.

Best of luck from Ireland

Originally posted by feursturm
Just came across your blog here man. Really enjoyed reading it so I hope you can find the time to keep it going now as I am going to follow it if you do.

Best of luck from Ireland

Glad you found it and are enjoying it so far
I will update it tomorrow since I have already played almost 2000 turneys with lots of interesting things to mention about this limit and whats to come in future!

Update!

Its been 2 weeks on a new limit now and lets check out results so far.

ROI
1989 games minus couple of mtts and 11s I shot for , profit of 501$ or ROI about 4.2%

RACES
Besides this, I finished 4th on sites SNG RACE where I earned extra 140$. Through affiliate race I finished 29th and earned 100$.

RAKEBACK
Site has payed me twice rakeback so far (every thursday they pay it) so from rakeback I have 171.57$

FIRST DEPOSIT BONUS - FDB
I have cleared 250$ first deposit bonus in past 15 days.

CASHING POINTS ON SITE
I have cashed 37$ in the beginning but have now 92$ more that I can cash. I will keep gathering points until end of the month and then cash them all at once.

Profit layout:

ROI = 501$
RACES = 240$
RAKEBACK = 171.57$
FDB = 250$
POINTS = 37$

Total 1199.57$ profit

As you see money is coming but I know I can do better than this
Last weekend I tried playing 11s on party poker and on Stan James. On Stan James I could not win 1st place , lots of bad beats and variation
Party poker was different blind structure and I was brake even there or even profitable couple of buy ins. Those of you that play 6 max on Stan James know that prize structure is 70-30% which makes it very important in long run to get those 1st places
Sample was too small to tell since I played total (both sites combined) not more than 40 games but decision was made that I move to 11s from 1st of November.

My routine has changed a bit since I am now coaching 3 students with my coach that started recently on Stars 9 man 1.5$. I hope my story and road will motivate them to reach this level even faster than I did!
I now grind in 2 sessions, 1st one being 3 hours and 2nd one 4 hours. I usually start around this time (2pm) finish until 5pm, eat lunch and then play longer session 20-00 or anywhere from 18:00 on...
My homework is currently the least that I dedicate my time for which makes me sad but it is only because I put a lot of effort and energy to help our students. For example past 3 days I went to sleep at 4:30am or later since I was watching them play and correcting some leaks. Time for my homework is usually in the morning but now I wake up later so that will hopefully go back to normal in less than a month when students move to 6 max and start to crush ♠_biggrin:

I have noticed on this limit a lot of bad regs or players who try to be creative in spots where it isn't profitable to do so. I can't stress how many times they check raised all in on flop with 2nd pair with weak kicker for starters Not to mention their limp calling range which costs me money when downswing strikes (like past 2-3 days :). Heads up I definitely feel I have the edge but at this blind structure card distribution is important and surviving the flips of course. I mostly go with the best of it all in then they double up and in the next all in they win again and its 9 euro instead of 21 euro! I hope that variation will be better in future so that I can make even better roi with more 1st place finishes...

On the side note, Partizan Belgrade is playing Inter Milan in UEFA Europe League on 8th of November. This is the game I am definitely going to watch and am already making plans with friends who will go with me to this fantastic game. Partizan will win of course, 2-0 , so I have to be there

That is all for now, feel free to write ask questions and what not. Going to start my 1st session for today , see you at the tables

The results seem to be good so far.

GG Partizan!

Originally posted by IvicaIliev77

Last weekend I tried playing 11s on party poker and on Stan James. On Stan James I could not win 1st place , lots of bad beats and variation
Party poker was different blind structure and I was brake even there or even profitable couple of buy ins. Those of you that play 6 max on Stan James know that prize structure is 70-30% which makes it very important in long run to get those 1st places
Sample was too small to tell since I played total (both sites combined) not more than 40 games but decision was made that I move to 11s from 1st of November.

When I grinded at the same time in PP and micro, IMO it hurt my hourly since you cant put max efforts into different races and hence cant get the best results. Also the difference in the structure causes to play differently on those 2 sites.

How many tables do you play? What kinda stats are you playing with? What speed SNGs do you play in micro?

PS! I have always enjoyed grinding in Microgaming, some of my fav. sites are there, although after their SNG soft changes its kinda harder to grind normally SNgs.

Just to let you know, I'm subscribed, I'm rooting for ya, nice work and keep us posted.

Send regards to Gerovit and tell him that i still love him, no matter how fat he got!

Originally posted by VaskataBuci
The results seem to be good so far.

GG Partizan!

Thank you Vaskata. I think I can be even better but variation also had influence past 3-4 days so I am ok currently with 4.5% roi. Hope by the end of the month it will go above 6% at least...

Originally posted by MP89EST

When I grinded at the same time in PP and micro, IMO it hurt my hourly since you cant put max efforts into different races and hence cant get the best results. Also the difference in the structure causes to play differently on those 2 sites.

How many tables do you play? What kinda stats are you playing with? What speed SNGs do you play in micro?

PS! I have always enjoyed grinding in Microgaming, some of my fav. sites are there, although after their SNG soft changes its kinda harder to grind normally SNgs.

You are absolutely right man. Idea was not to grind simultaneously but rather to give it a shot at two different networks checking out what suits me better.
I think I would have better roi on party poker because of structure but the question is will I be able to play 150 games a day there?
There is also Ongame which I hope I will try also before the end of month and based on all 3 shots decision will be made.
Overall I will go with whatever Gerovit decides is best option. In perspective it is very good to know whats out there and tweak things based on results. For example students that we work with might be better of on Party Poker then on Ongame , or vice versa. That's why I think its great I am testing those networks before I actually give it a go full time on 11s

I play twice a day 3 and 4 hour session. In 1st session it is difficult to get 12 tables , max is about 8 to 10 tops and thats in 2nd hour or so. So 1st session I get maximum of 55 games while in the 2nd session since I play late afternoon or evening I multitable up to 12 tables and I get at least 90 games while doing that. If I feel I am missing some spots, I will not load 12 but rather 10 tables. If that is getting me to miss spots minimum I will go is 8 because I feel there extremely comfortable
It is funny but since HEM2 doesn't work on Microgaming I don't use stats at all The only stats that I use is notes I put individually and color marking. Red for regs, silver for rocks, green for fish, yellow for very wide callers and orange for some creative players.
I play 6 max turbos that change blinds every 6 hands.

I think you can go back to Microgaming, people tend to think its hard to get the volume but its really not difficult at all , tables are running you can get daily 150+ games for 7-8 hours tops

Hope that answers all your questions ♦

Originally posted by RovarTry
Just to let you know, I'm subscribed, I'm rooting for ya, nice work and keep us posted.

Thanks a lot RovarTry

I assume you are Slovenian grinder?
What levels are you playing now, what type of game and all the rest?

All the best man and thanks for good wishes

glad that you are doing ok,keep up with good work:)

Yeah, one and only - sadly ♦

Mainly grinding FR/T 22's, with some 11$ 6-max and few 11$ HU on WPT. Testing the waters and slowly building roll and deciding what to choose ♦

I didnt have problem with the volume in PP like never, but I always mixed limits. IMO there isnt much point to play in party unless you get to palladium elite or have really good deal, due the tables reg infestation in mid limits. Im actually waiting to see how addition of Bwin changes the player pool.

In micro I liked to mix everything from supers to normals since that way it was able to put good volume in. Havent you considered it? Because there are times when some type of games are juicier then others. I checked and most I played in a day was 301 6max SNGs in 9+ hours, cant imagine that I could now get that kinda volume in. Seeing how my friend plays there atm I can estimate that he gets around 20-30 % less tables in hour then he used to.(There is 1 poker room going to join micro so maybe the possible volume of games goes up.)

I would suggest for you to try to get HUD working since for me it was quite valuable. There are few regs against who it will be quite beneficial for you later or if you study your regs separately and then write your notes down to the soft, there is no need for it.

Originally posted by janushr
glad that you are doing ok,keep up with good work:)

Thanks man

Originally posted by RovarTry
Yeah, one and only - sadly ♦

Mainly grinding FR/T 22's, with some 11$ 6-max and few 11$ HU on WPT. Testing the waters and slowly building roll and deciding what to choose ♦

Sounds like a solid money making plan How many games did you play on those limits so far?

Originally posted by MP89EST
I didnt have problem with the volume in PP like never, but I always mixed limits. IMO there isnt much point to play in party unless you get to palladium elite or have really good deal, due the tables reg infestation in mid limits. Im actually waiting to see how addition of Bwin changes the player pool.

In micro I liked to mix everything from supers to normals since that way it was able to put good volume in. Havent you considered it? Because there are times when some type of games are juicier then others. I checked and most I played in a day was 301 6max SNGs in 9+ hours, cant imagine that I could now get that kinda volume in. Seeing how my friend plays there atm I can estimate that he gets around 20-30 % less tables in hour then he used to.(There is 1 poker room going to join micro so maybe the possible volume of games goes up.)

I would suggest for you to try to get HUD working since for me it was quite valuable. There are few regs against who it will be quite beneficial for you later or if you study your regs separately and then write your notes down to the soft, there is no need for it.

Today I played 7 hours straight 1 session and I did over 160 games in this session. Variance struck me so I ended with lime 20-30 buy in dowswing but thats fine...
I will mix 5s and 10s from 1st of November on Ongame network to try to get between 150 and 200 games a day.
I write down notes on their calling and showing range, especially regs so I got used to it that way. I agree with you, with hem it would be easier to decide what to do in bubble but this way my focus has to be on players, dynamics and their tendencies so its like old school way of playing before softwares even existed

After downswing came upswing next day. I managed to overcome loss from day before and to get back on track with profit.
Current roi overall is 3.5% but roi for 5.5 euro buy in is 4%.
I hope I can bring it up by the end of month more we shall see...

i can guarantee you that you would have better scores with HEM then without it...i aso dont use it much,but in general lots of people use it,so its just a measure to even things up...i can assuer you that THEY have HEM and that they are using it at their favor...what ever weakens you have,its possiblle to see it thru HEM...just my opinion,and if you think even semi pro,its a must:)