How's it going 2p2er's? This is my first thread but one I hope will interest some of you.

A little about myself...I have been playing poker since 2000, started in University playing Limit 3-6 and grinding out a steady income throughout my 4 years in school. Once had a winning streak of 23 straight sessions...kept track of it all on Excel and was quite consistent.

Started online probably around 2003-04, on paradise poker, playing everything under the sun...tournies, limit, no-limit, omaha, sng's...pretty much anything I could find with no sense of bankroll management at all.

The last few years I have been all over the map, and like alot of you, played with no concept of BRM and was often felted by playing way over my head.

The point of this thread is to keep my focus on SNG's. This seems to be the only online game that I can consistently beat (although I am down lifetime due to shot taking at BI's way over my BR.)

The plan is simple. Play 1000 SNG's starting at 16's. If I show greater than a 5% ROI over this sample and have 100 BI's for 27's, I'll move up. I started this challenge on March 6th and have since played 589 tournies with a pre-rakeback profit of $1430.00 and an ROI of 15.2%.

I should mention I have an excellent job (stockbroker) that I get paid well for so money isn't necessarily the motivation here. I love poker, and love competition and that is why I want to challenge myself.

On a side note, if things continue well this year, I plan on a Supernova run (currently Platinum with 14598 VPP's).

Cheers and good luck to all of you!

Sounds like you're beating the 16s pretty handily so far, so that's a plus.

Good luck on your Supernova run.

Thanks Grim!

1st Update - 3/26/2011

Today's results

61 gms - 27.3% ROI - $266 profit

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Total Challenge (Up to 1000 games)

650 gms - 16.3% ROI - $1696 profit


On a side note, forgot to mention that last week I finished 3rd in the BOP Earth Low Orbit for $250 and 25th in the BOP Earth High Orbit for $40...not including any rakeback or BOP cash in my totals.

Good luck all! Have a great weekend!

Chief

gl sir.

I like how people play the game because they love it and not because of the money

I can understand not including rakeback in your totals, but BOP rewards seem fair enough to include. You earn them through your skill (and some rungood) rather than just being a percentage return like rakeback.

Congrats on finishing 3rd though, that's a really solid finish.

gl bud wow nice progress

Gl with the grind man. One word of warning, your ROI at the 16s is definitely not sustainable so be prepared for the doomswitch when it happens! But im sure you have been playing long enough to understand this

Gl, pretty nice start

I agree with you. I'm running well over EV and don't consider a +15% ROI sustainable over a large sample either. I would be very happy beating the 16's for over 10% which may even be a stretch.

Once I complete this challenge (1000 16's), I plan on moving to the 27's for another 1000 games. My goal there would be +5% over the sample. I will have to work out at some point what game generates my highest hourly. At the 16's I am around $35/hr. (pre-rakeback)

To hit Supernova with my realistic volume (about 1000 games a month) I will definitely need to move up at some point...

Thanks again for all the support and advice, much appreciated!

Thanks Haid0r! Although I'm not a saint, I love the money too!

Cool thread. It's funny because I'm doing the exact same thing (1k games +5% ROI before moving up) only I decided to start at $6 turbos. I had a pretty bad start with the $11's but I'm trying to pull out of it. Anyways keep updating here and I'll be sure to follow it.

Nice one, I'll subscribe to this too. It's not about the money for me it's just one big bankroll. Got it from $80 to $4k at the moment with the odd cash out. Been playing a mixture, nice to see someone who's decided what they want to play as opposed to me as I change my mind every day at the moment! Good luck!

Thanks man, and good luck with your challenge!

Wow, that's a hell of a run...in the past I've played pretty much everything, but for the time being, I am going to focus on becoming an excellent SNG player, it seems this works the best with my strengths. Good luck to you too!

Quick update on the challenge. Last night I played another set and so my numbers changed a bit.

3/27/2011

73 games played - 31.8% ROI - $371 profit

3/28/2011

25 games played - 41.8% ROI - $167 profit

TOTALS:

687 games played - 17.9% ROI - $1968 profit

I know I'm on a sick heater and won't be able to maintain this ROI...but I'm enjoying the run!!!

Good luck at the tables!

Everybody gets on a heater now and then, you might as well enjoy it while it's there.

Even when you know it wont last forever, it feels good to have everything going your way for awhile.

Update - 3/28/2011

Games played - 36
ROI - -15.6%
Profit/Loss - ($90.00)

Played a relatively small session today, seemed I was running into the top of ranges and not winning small fave races...just one of those days.

I'm feeling very strong about my game at the moment, even against some regs. In a strange way, it seems regs are easier to exploit than unknowns. For example, when I'm in BB and we are down to 4-5, and a reg is in SB, it is almost a certainty that he/she goes all in. This tendency has opened up my range significantly vs. and unknown because it is VERY rare for a newb to push with ATC when close to the money. That being said, generally it is incorrect to call, but there are times where this is exploitable for sure.

One question to the forum...say you are at 50-100 and are UTG with 1050 and holding A3 offsuit with 7 players remaining...what do you do? Push or fold?

Up until recently, I was pushing with around 10BB however I am finding I am often running into bigger aces or PP and have since changed my view. Now I wait for a better spot in LP with slightly less chips for a push.

Hopefully this makes sense...Any thoughts are welcome/encouraged.

Cheers,

Chief

Sorry, forgot to mention my running total...

TOTAL FOR CHALLENGE:

Games Played: 723 (all 16's)
ROI - +16.2%
Profit - $1878.00

And for the real stat lovers...

ITM - 39.7%
$/HR - $35.92
1st - 15.8%
2nd - 11.1%
3rd - 12.9%

Good luck at the tables!

I don't play 16s, but I know if it were in any of the tournies I play, A3o UTG with 10.5bb 7 handed is pretty much a snap fold.

You're going to pick up another BB at best, if you sneak it through, and there's basically nothing anybody is calling with that you're any kind of realistic favorite against. It's pretty much going to be entirely pocket pairs higher than 33 and superior Ax's. Even against stuff like KQ and KJ suited that might call in late position or from the blinds, it's still ~55/45. I think the risk outweighs the possible reward.

Quick update for those following...I am on the west coast for a few days of relaxing before heading to the east coast for work for the next few weeks but I'm hoping to get in some good volume at during the week at night. We'll see how it goes...goal for April is to finish up the $16 9 man challenge and move into the 27's. I would like to play 1000 27's by April 30th with a ROI greater that 7%.

If I hit this goal, I should make a minimum of $1890.00 not including rakeback or BOP $$$.

If I hit this target ROI at the 27's in April, I plan on moving to the 38's in May.

Wish me good luck!

Here is my $16 turbo 9 man results for March.

772 games played
13.2% ROI
$1634.00 Profit
$29.47/hr

Only 228 games left at the $16 challenge, I'd love to finish up $2k over 1000 games...need a little run-good!

Good luck all!

Chief

You got this!

When (if ever) will you take a shot at the next lvl up?

My plan is to move to the 27's as soon as I hit 1000 games at the 16's and maintain a strong ROI. (My goal was over 10% for the 16's). I'm bankrolled for higher stakes but I want to prove to myself I'm a winning player at each level prior to moving up.

I may continue to mix in 16's during April as well because the 27's often take longer to load...we'll see.

April Update:

Things are going great so far this month. Haven't played too much do to travel and work committments but here is a quick summary...

2011/04/02

Games Played - 12
ROI - 47.7%
Profit - $91.50

2011/04/04

Games Played - 24
ROI - 51.2%
Profit - $196.50

TOTAL CHALLENGE

Games Played - 808
ROI - 14.9%
Profit - $1922.00

I can't wait to finish this and move to the 27's. Not only will I double my VPP rate, I should easily hit Platinum and will hopefully increase my $/hr. (currently at $33.12)

I feel very comfortable with the $16's right now. I game select a little bit (if I see 3 or more regs) and know that I am running hot but I still feel that I can comfortably win at these stakes. I'm very curious to see what type of ROI I can maintain at the next level.

Good luck all!

Chief