On February 14, 2005, I opened my account on Pacific with $100. I quickly doubled that to $200 and took my money out. I have played primarily SNGs, while dabbling in cash games and MTTs. Here is a break out of my statistics through September 20, 2005, a little more than 7 months later. First of all, the bankroll is at $1500. Hopefully, this post will help some of the noobs.

The following includes:
518 $5.50 NLHE SNGs and 34 $5.50 PL O8 SNGs
401 $11 NLHE SNGs and 5 $11 PL O8 SNGs
41 $22 NLHE SNGS
(all played at Pacific Poker, Ultimate Bet, Pokerstars, and Full Tilt Poker)

1st place.....111
2nd place....160
3rd place.....186
TOTAL ITM: 457 for 46%

4th place.....137
5th/6th pl....257
7th-10th......149
TOTAL OTM: 543 for 54%

ROI: 16%
Profit per SNG: $1.32
Total Profit: $1,318

WHAT I HAVE LEARNED IN THE LAST 7 MONTHS:

1) I'm still learning and still have a lot to learn. I am good, but not as good as I thought I would be at this point.

2) Online players have improved in general since I started playing (or I got worse)

3) You can and will have variance of as many as 10 OTM SNGs in a row!!! But, you will also place ITM in as many as 8 or more SNGs in a row.

4) There will be times where you will middle around at break-even levels to slight losses. When losses start mounting, you must take a break and in some cases move down a level.

5) Switch up your games somewhat to keep things fresh. NLHE can become monotonous, it is good to learn new games (like PL O8 SNGs), which in turn help your overall skill level.

6) Don't let people tell you that you can't win playing poker online. You can waste a lot of time, but you can also win money.

7) TRY to be nice to the other players, I am still working on being a better "ambassador of the game"

8) Buy your wife/husband/gay lover, whatever, gifts with some of your winnings so they will allow you to keep playing!!! This could be moved to number one.

9) Stay disciplined with your fundamentals and be able to adapt when situations develop.

10) Don't expect to throw your stats on an online poker forum without getting them slammed from time to time.

Hopefully, the ROI will go up in the next 1000 games, its time to move up in levels.

Thanks Cactus. As I mentioned, I was in a thin second place at the time with 6 left, and winning this hand would have put me in a very solid first out of five. I talked to my buddy about it and he said he would have done the same thing. What else would I do, I want him to play the hand, he just caught his card.

You are right about letting it go. I have.

Thanks!

Maybe only mistake is calling preflop ( no reads ? )

Congrats on your 1000th man .
Very good money you make there and a nice list of things you learned.
Study is a important thing to it can move up the %.

Well done.

Tommyhawk.

congrats on the 1000

Tonight my brother came over and played online for the first time. My style is very tight (Dan Harrington wannabee) kinda thing, the brother comes in playing numerous pots with cards you would be embarressed for people to see, but his betting was making people lay down obvious winning hands. I'm saying fold and he says "ahh, i'll stick a little bet in and see what happens". I could not believe how many times he pulled it off.

Anyway, the point is, despite reading books etc. i always revert back to my usual tight style, but watching someone else in real life playing a different style has opened my eyes a bit and will hpefully add to my game.

Just for the record, he played 5, won 2, a second, a third and one out of the money. Not too shabby for a first attempt. My bankroll is hoping he will come back tommorow.

The guys in the Ring games forum will tell you that on low limits, LAG play is more profitable than TAG. However, that's in a ring game where you can reload. SNGs are a bit more touchy than that, I think. One mistake and you go home. Many playing the 5s are pretty bad and make a lot of mistakes, but they can also suckout on you when a mistake becomes a bonanza.

Stay coiled tight, ready to spring. As long as they make the mistakes, you're gonna win.

CJ

have read the articels on this site, and reading ToP at the moment.. anyone knows any other articels that are good to improve my SnG play`?

Read Nash Vegas system for optimal starting play, particularly on the ones that have 800 in chips. I prefer those with 1500 in chips.

Doesn't surprise me, kiddy. There are slightly fewer suckouts because there are one or two less fish playing crap hands which are way behind but have a chance to beat you. You are obviously one of the best at the table, so you are probably only competing against three of four players of equal skill. One or two more than at the 22s and 11s.

I find it much easier to play against decent players in SNGs than the idiots. They are predictable. Maybe it's why I play so few hands early on.

CJ