Making a living with STT SNGs

Originally posted by MilanBurdych
imho pretty terrible A5o play...

I wasn't happy with it either no excuses really, just figured opponent would give me more respect ( didn't 3 bet single hand on that new table was very tight with my selection etc). Doesn't matter, lesson for the future live not to bluff them often

P.S. I will post the hand in evaluation forums for Kurrkie and Ghaleon to have their saying on it also. In my squeeze range I definitely have here sets of 99 JJ + overpairs as well as Over + FD or 2 overs + FD etc so my percieved range ain't that weak in the eye of the opponent. Problem is opponent doesn't even think of what I might have and here he hit TP with FD and was ez call. After that I heard that he has high bluff frequency and tendency from some other players on that table so I feel more good about my play minute by minute lol

Thanks Ivacalliiev , interesting choices and life you have. I had forgotten what hard work it can be playing with a band , and was looking back through rose tinted glasses! I can relate though , to having to do everything from writing the songs , tuning their bass , to buying and driving the van lol, while some band members don't even practice the new songs. I gave up bands, but regret it.
I can see your dilemma though. Especially as there isn't a paid scene in Serbia. Long term though, poker ROI's seem to be going down. I guess it should stop going down though.

Originally posted by TheLandlordUK
Thanks Ivacalliiev , interesting choices and life you have. I had forgotten what hard work it can be playing with a band , and was looking back through rose tinted glasses! I can relate though , to having to do everything from writing the songs , tuning their bass , to buying and driving the van lol, while some band members don't even practice the new songs. I gave up bands, but regret it.
I can see your dilemma though. Especially as there isn't a paid scene in Serbia. Long term though, poker ROI's seem to be going down. I guess it should stop going down though.

If you ever stop by in Serbia we can meet up and jam even record something
Sounds to me like you had similar experiences with bands too bad it didn't work out with those guys since you regret leaving bands...

Poker is one of the only things right now that depends entirely from individual. If you work hard you can make tons of money and secure your future , have an easy life etc.
It may seem that things are harder today then they were and that is true, but you can still on any site make 1.5-2k$ without too much hard work with SNGs(studying for an year intensively ought to do it easy). That kind of salary doesn't exist in Serbia + it allows me to travel and enjoy life which I very much appreciate.

I do however believe that future in poker is very bright. When USA comes back into play, there will be millions of players more from which majority will be fish. That means more balanced reg to fish ratio, better roi in perspective = higher hourly

I would like to get to the point where my hourly would skyrocket and be able to make monthly between 7 to 10k. I believe this is possible but not in SNGs There is a sealing right now that when you reach 6 max 30s+ people play for super low roi (make most of money via RB therefore have tons of swings), reg to fish ratio is insane (1 fish per game most of the time) and traffic is not as it used to be therefore for a grinder makes it impossible to table select properly 100+ games a day.

This is why I am seriously considering studying and switching to 6 max cash game or HU hypers. There are lot more cash game guys who make 7-10k a month compared to SNG guys plus cash game guys know a lot more poker then SNG guys (they are better pre flop, understand mathematics much better, value to bluff ratios, combos, 3/4/5+ betting is something they study much sooner and get better at it, they know really well post flop etc). So just overall 6 max cash game could be my future poker goal especially now that I know that I can always come back to SNGs and be minimum brake even on 15s without table selection (make 1.2k$ with 3k games etc).

HU hypers I find super fun to play but I see more and more people switching to them, just look at the poker strategy blogs. We already have here regs that crush 30-60s easily , some mix up 100s and 200s... Very well done to those guys, I am not sure what the future holds for midstakes in that game and what is expected hourly playing 30-60s etc (have to check all that).

All in all no need to worry about future in poker but rather be always ready to adopt to given situation. This year I will go for 30k post rb earnings with SNGs. Next year I might switch to 6 max hypers go for SNE (which will bring sick variation and swings but can earn nice $) or simply switch to 6 max cash try to move up within a year to NL200+ and make much more money + be much better at poker. It also depends if I will find along the way some amazing coach who will coach and stake me in those formats (6 max hypers, 6 max cash game, hu hypers), it could very well change the way things go

Take a look at Pleno and MBML for example and you will see what kind of hourly and $ I am talking about. Watch their videos and get immediate proof how much stuff these guys know and why they are crushing limits that they play. Too bad MBML doesn't offer coaching and staking, I will in the future contact Pleno about it also see what he is up to

But if you are such a good SNG player, why don`t you try moving to tournaments? Wouldn`t be profitable to grind 30-109$ tournaments?

I think that in tournaments, if you are a solid player, there is a lot more money than in SNG`s.....

Originally posted by Bugy92
But if you are such a good SNG player, why don`t you try moving to tournaments? Wouldn`t be profitable to grind 30-109$ tournaments?

I think that in tournaments, if you are a solid player, there is a lot more money than in SNG`s.....

V a r i a n c e

Originally posted by Bugy92
But if you are such a good SNG player, why don`t you try moving to tournaments? Wouldn`t be profitable to grind 30-109$ tournaments?

I think that in tournaments, if you are a solid player, there is a lot more money than in SNG`s.....

I am far from "such a good SNG player", I am just very realistic about current state of this game as far as earning goes. Unless fish start entering 30s+ often and traffic comes back, it is impossible to grind and earn 7-10k a month which with 6 max cash is reality for a long time now.

To play MTTs you need to have a sick BR and even sicker patience (you can go for months without ITM-ing some top 3 places). I don't want to wait for money that long or risk bankroll that I don't have now for them.
I believe future is in MTTs but only if you have more then enough money to live and not be stressed by variance they bring.

They way things are I will study this year 6 max cash game and grind it a bit with 30k SNGs goal. If I improve and do well enough, I can consider switching on Stars to Nl100+ or whatever next year.

Originally posted by ragney

Originally posted by Bugy92
But if you are such a good SNG player, why don`t you try moving to tournaments? Wouldn`t be profitable to grind 30-109$ tournaments?

I think that in tournaments, if you are a solid player, there is a lot more money than in SNG`s.....

V a r i a n c e

Well said! Thanks for filling in!

OK so another update and an important one to say the least!

First of all, I am super happy that Gerovit and Curly fried rice both got awesome deals to purchase the same laptop Lenovo that I got! Well done guys, we will go to celebrate all together in kafana (restaurant) in couple of days this awesome deal

My health condition is finally much better, my concentration and focus are there. It took me 5 days of not playing poker, relaxing watching movies drinking tea, taking medication to feel better! No more "slacking" , time to do some work!

Today is 11th which means in next 20 days I will need to play total of 2600 games or 130 a day average. Doable considering I played way more than that and will some days play 200 + games. During this month I will not table select but rather 15 table and work on my game for those extra edges vs regs as I will play tons of them daily.

Last night I meet up with ex gf went to watch Wall street wolf - awesome movie, really loved it - top recommendation!!!
For those of you wondering if I got back with her or not, I didn't as at this point in my life I just want to have lots of fun and not be tied up in any emotional relationship with girls (partying having fun is awesome now , holding hands meeting up all day long and what not does not work for me now- just being real about my life that's all). So that's the way things stand now and I don't see them changing soon unless some amazing girl comes along and impress me or super hot Asian chick (fingers crossed that it does change!)

You might have read in past couple of posts but I have definitely decided this year to do the following things:

- Play 30k 6 max minimum (15s minimum, add 30s during the year and switch to them exclusively with appropriate BR of 300 buy ins minimum)
- Start studying from scratch and grinding 6 max cash (dedicate minimum 5 hours a week for it)
- Reach the point in the end of the year to make decent living from 6 max cash (1k euro+) and switch to it exclusively next year (to go for NL100,200 and up aiming for 7k+ months post rb)
- Network with a lot of 6 max cash game players/coaches, organize study sessions, sweats, use Poker Strategy's videos and hand evaluation to move up faster.
- I will most likely start with NL10 or NL25 on Ipoker , work on my game + grind and move up to NL50-100 by the end of the year.

Now heading to tables for some SNG STT grind, good luck me with those long term goals !

Have all kick ass weekend!

One super long session and 100 games. Also posting monthly graph every 500 games!

Leaving now home to watch tv shows, relax and prepare for tomorrows big day (2 guitar lessons, 2 coaching sessions, working on the game + grinding 100 games minimum!!!)

100 games 3.3 hours
EV ROI 10.3% (155.02$)
ROI 9.1% (137$)

Month so far
500 games (some 30s in there also) 18.7 hours (without HU hypers played on laptop without tracking software)
EV ROI 4.8% (360.56$)
ROI 1% (75.48$)

nice goals, good luck man! check your inbox btw...

Originally posted by pericas1991
nice goals, good luck man! check your inbox btw...

Thanks! Checked and look forward talking to you soon

Super productive day so far!

Guitar lessons

After a long brake from guitar and music teaching, I finally resumed it today!
It was double lesson with super talented student of mine from Leskovac. I have worked with him for about 3 months in the past, he is very hard working and talented which is the best combo of course!

Today in the 1st lesson we worked on technique, creating sequences and melodic exercises in general. I showed him how to approach it from various angles and not just learn by finger memory which is what most guitar players do. He was super psyched and even by the end of that lesson created his own sequence and took it trough the major + natural minor scale!
His future assignment is to create 5 different sequences , write them all out (melodic shape for them, Q & A, rhythm grouping, use poly rhythm, identify interval relation, use different string sets, play different keys and different tempos etc).

2nd lesson we worked on harmony, more specific Triads. In the past we covered closed Triads, today we reviewed them (string sets 654,543,432 and 321) and I taught him how to create open triads. It was awesome how fast he was getting it and for assignment he has to do 3 to 6 keys major + natural minor harmonization using closed and open triads, for open ones to use string sets 653,542,431 minimum and expand even more!

In the end of this dual lesson I used loop pedal a lot cause I was showing him how to improvise over jazz standard (he has to prepare for conservatory exam in August) so it was tons of fun.

Overall super happy and totally emotionally recharged that I taught him and it went super smooth and well. Very much look forward doing those dual lessons with him in future. Money part was great also (I lowered my rates for him cause I taught him before, he travels from Leskovac to Nis 1 hour drive and he will do dual lessons every week , so 15 euro per lesson is the price for him) but money doesn't really matter for me now that I make it in poker super happy that I finally continue to teach others guitar !

Poker sessions

Taught 2 sessions today and both went excellent.
One was with Curly fried rice and the other with student who joined us after couple of months brake.
I taught them both about bubble pivot points, r/calling ranges in bubble as well as 4-6 players. I also assigned to one of them very specific post flop assignments (to create super specific game plan vs each of the opponent type on various type of flops) since he kept saying that it was his big leak

Very happy how those sessions went and even managed to help another student register to new room.

Rest of the night plan

So I will go for 100 games, 15 tabling , 1 or 2 sessions. I definitely plan to go home by 12 tonight so some other days when I have less coaching going on I will grind more to make up but today I don't wont to go crazy !

Enjoy your Sunday night and hope there are plenty of fish today at the tables ♦

Done for the day!

Again one super long session 100 games and finishing everything before 12 - feels super great!!!

Here is the graph for the day, 15 tabling without any table selection as usual. Card distribution sick with setups for 60 games or so!

100 games 3 hours
EV ROI 5.8% (87.30$)
ROI 3% (45.14$)
1st places 22% vs 2nd places 12% today itm 34% only today!

Have a good Sunday night on and off the tables !

if i start to study sng's, and begin with 100-150$ at low.stakes, what sngs do you think i should aproach? i mean which do you think are the easiest ones for a beginner, the ones that could build me a solid bankroll?

Originally posted by IvicaIliev77
Super productive day so far!

Overall super happy and totally emotionally recharged

Very much look forward doing those dual lessons with him in future.

Money part was great also

super happy that I finally continue to teach others guitar !

Good to read how much you enjoyed it. Look at these statements. No tilting or Jared Tandler needed for guitar ♦ How often do we see poker players talk like that? Although you are consistently positive.
You're lesson = high stakes , while I was at the micros ( learning some Satriani off a dvd )

Originally posted by IvicaIliev77

This is why I am seriously considering studying and switching to 6 max cash game or HU hypers. There are lot more cash game guys who make 7-10k a month compared to SNG guys

I played FR zoom, nl 25 and nl50 for a couple of months there, but am switching back to SNGs. At least players are forced to give action in SNGs. Even at the low stakes I was at, the players were such nits, it was hard to get paid off. If you look at PS zoom page , you will see how many are 2 or 4 tabling ( 1k hands an hour) , they are uber tight. I don't understand how they make money.
I was reading a PS online pros blog. I think he makes 1.5bb / 100 , eight tabling nl50 and nl100. He says he plays ABC poker.

I will look at Plenos blog. I have read a bit of MBNL. He sounds like an awesome player , and decent guy.

Originally posted by Bugy92
if i start to study sng's, and begin with 100-150$ at low.stakes, what sngs do you think i should aproach? i mean which do you think are the easiest ones for a beginner, the ones that could build me a solid bankroll?

I started with 9 max and I think they are easier then 6 max in my opinion (there is less post flop and ranges are tighter PF therefore easier to remember). Good thing about 9 max 1.5$ for example is you will get to use shove and call tables 5-9 players and then do the same for bubble. All this you can study and learn via software such as Holdem Resources Calculator, ICMizer or old school with unedited ranges SNG WIZ.

Some guys find it super easy to play Fifty50s and Double or Nothing SNGs. If I was you I would give those a go also. It all depends on what site you are playing, what your expectations are.

Poker Strategy has tons of videos on 9 max, watch all Collin Moshman videos and you should be good to play 30s in a year max in my opinion - just be prepared to work hard and grind!

Let me know if I can help in any other way

Originally posted by TheLandlordUK

Good to read how much you enjoyed it. Look at these statements. No tilting or Jared Tandler needed for guitar ♦ How often do we see poker players talk like that? Although you are consistently positive.
You're lesson = high stakes , while I was at the micros ( learning some Satriani off a dvd )

No tilting when you don't depend to make a living out of it Lets say I had 10 students each paying me between 100 - 200$ a month. Now from those 10 guys there are like 3-4 that don't practice, not even finish assignments, constantly find excuses etc. Now you are in big problem. That person brings you money and you make a living thanks to him but he also holds you back because every lesson you re-do things until he/she gets it right.
It can be very emotionally draining, it can hold back your progress a lot!

Now that I make living from poker its super easy - I accept to work only the ones I want to work with and make the choices who will stay and who won't after a while!

Satriani is the man, I played his tunes so much my fingers were going crazy with his legato ♦
While I was studying at London Guitar Institute, I was playing on festival that school organized (for top 10 students in each instrument category) and I played Satriani tune Memories from Not of this earth album - those were great times ♦

Originally posted by TheLandlordUK

I played FR zoom, nl 25 and nl50 for a couple of months there, but am switching back to SNGs. At least players are forced to give action in SNGs. Even at the low stakes I was at, the players were such nits, it was hard to get paid off. If you look at PS zoom page , you will see how many are 2 or 4 tabling ( 1k hands an hour) , they are uber tight. I don't understand how they make money.
I was reading a PS online pros blog. I think he makes 1.5bb / 100 , eight tabling nl50 and nl100. He says he plays ABC poker.

I will look at Plenos blog. I have read a bit of MBNL. He sounds like an awesome player , and decent guy.

You will get action at SNGs but trust me you won't improve your post flop skills anywhere near as if you played 6 max cash game or zoom. Even regs at 15$ limits have very bad defending ranges from blinds and other positions!
SNGs will bring you the same doubt cause many people will learn to reach push/fold/r/call/r/fold/3bet phase And yes many times you will say the same phrase: How do these guys make money when they are all similar skill level and reach late game 4-5 players (at later limits early limits they spew like crazy

If you don't mind, please share that pro blog link here, I would like to read as much information out there regarding cash game.

Pleno has awesome videos, I love his work, too bad he ain't doing coaching + staking!

MBML is probably my favorite coach with LTT and Pleno on strategy. He is young guy who is crushing like a boss and his road in poker is just amazing. See where he was a year or two ago and now you see that he had in December post RB month of 70+k $ - just unreal guy I also like him a lot cause he is very normal approachable and loves to play video games (Dota in particular which I used to play now just watch my brother play

MBML currently coaches and stakes couple of guys but he said those were exceptional examples - he doesn't do it regularly as he had bad experience staking others (some dude still owes him 1k after year and a half!). I will try to become his student who is coached and staked by him , hope I can make it

I will also consider buying new Pleno course cause I think there might be value there to immediately beat nl10-25 and even 50 which will pay the course automatically.

Thx for the answer, I realy apreciate that whenever I have some questions you always answer quickly....you are very kind sir! ♦

yea, I think I`ll give 9max SNG`s a chance, since both(you and mylan) recomanded those...but I realy realy strugle cause I can`t choose which ones to go for, the regular ones or the ko ones...I think I`ll go with the normal ones, even that I heard that KO SNG`s are full of fishes, so maybe there I would have a better ROI...

Hey man have taken ,I'm an Irissh bloke working in Australia so I can make enough money to play online in Europe full time and also fly to some decent live events around the continent. I have been looking for a country where the living cost is not absurd and I've narrowed it down to two countries, Serbia and Bulgaria. I'm leaning more to Serbia as the woman outnumber the men 3to1 😜.
I have taken a year off from playing because I couldn't handle the downswing I was in plus personal matters gf etc etc so I came to Oz for self discovery and relised that poker is the game I want to play for the rest of my life. I was just wondering how well you are doing there lifestyle wise and poker wise, would it be worth my while to move there as there is no way I can go back to miserable expensive Ireland and play comfortably I will have a BR of around 10,000 euro plus around 5k for living expenses. I'm thinking of living there for 3 months at least just to see how it goes. Can you recomend any places that have good live cash games,as I was a dealer for 3 years I feel my live reads are decent plus at my peak I was grinding the 6max plo 10/25c playin 4 tables. Any advice would be great.

Originally posted by Bugy92
Thx for the answer, I realy apreciate that whenever I have some questions you always answer quickly....you are very kind sir! ♦

yea, I think I`ll give 9max SNG`s a chance, since both(you and mylan) recomanded those...but I realy realy strugle cause I can`t choose which ones to go for, the regular ones or the ko ones...I think I`ll go with the normal ones, even that I heard that KO SNG`s are full of fishes, so maybe there I would have a better ROI...

You welcome Bugy92. Stop by ask questions anytime and I will respond soon as I check this blog daily. I was taught from early childhood to respect others and help whenever I can so that's what I do here in the blog also - don't ever hesitate to ask , there isn't such a thing as stupid questions!

9 mak KO SNGs may be softer but you need to readjust to them as bubble factor will be very different because there is bounty in play. There are some videos on strategy explaining that if I am not mistaken and also you can ask Burdych and Ghaleon , I am sure they played those quite a bit

Best of luck with whatever road you choose!