Okay, so I haven't played many SNG's before (maybe about 120 of them, about 70 turbo), so I decided this month I would play about 500 6.50 turbos and see how I do. Here's the details:

Number of Tournaments: 503
Buyin+Fees: $3274
Amount Won: $3510
Net Amount: $236
ROI: 7.21%
Finish in the Money: 38.37%
Average Finish: 4.31
1st: 68
2nd: 66
3rd: 62

Okay, now from what I've read about ROI, 7.21% is a <span>terrible</span> number as far as being a winning player goes, especially at 6 dollar turbos. I do think I've taken quite a number of beats during this month, but I don't want to take the easy way out and say "oh man sick bad run."

Given these stats, is it worth it to continue grinding SNG's, or is it more of a "well you know if you can't beat the 6 dollar turbos with a 22% ROI you shouldn't bother because once you move up you'll get trounced" sort of thing. Maybe it's variance? Maybe it's lack of experience? Or could it be I'm making bubble mistakes? Perhaps a lack of an adequate sample size? Maybe 7.21% isn't so bad and I'm just being hard on myself (it is positive, after all, but regardless it's always good to put your own ass to the grindstone so you don't start slipping IMO)?

Your thoughts? They'd be greatly appreciated :)

EDIT: If there's a certain number or some statistic that I didn't put in there that I should've, please let me know. Thanks!

First things first, as long as you're profitable, that's good. The vast majority aren't. Your ITM is a little low, but you are top-heavy in your distribution. 500 games is enough of a gauge to give you a pretty good idea where you stand, and I think you know that bubble play in the turbos is pretty much the deciding factor. One thing you can do is experiment with your bubble play, perhaps turning up the aggression a little more when you're down to 5. Another thing to consider, have you thought about playing non-turbos? Turbos aren't for everyone, and since you're obviously a solid player, having less situations forced might well benefit you. I'd suggest playing 100 or so non-turbos and seeing if there's a difference in your stats. I don't like playing turbos, and though I'm sure my hourly rate goes down in the regulars, I find I have much more of an edge the more time I have to work with. Also consider trying 6-seaters; everybody's game has a niche, and if your SNG strategy is solid, maybe you just need to find the right format. And on that note, where are you playing (I assume stars)? The blind structures are vastly different at, say, party and Full Tilt. One might be better suited to your game than another.

One thing you really need to work on is your heads up. Winning a bigger % of those SNG's will definately increase your R.O.I. Other then that keep up the good work!!!!!!

With that finish distribution and only 38.37% ITM, I'd say you are probably making too may mistakes on the bubble.

I can't say for sure that that's it, but it never hurts to be more aggro on the bubble. There are always people who are trying to squeak into the money, you just need to put pressure on them so they give you their blinds.

If you can get your ITM up to 40 - 41% with that same finish distribution, your ROI will be closer to 15%.

Your not losing money, which is better than a majority of players. I would say to keep at it. If you can afford it and you plan on playing SnGs for a while, definately invest in SNGPT.

And if your serious about getting good at them, the best advice can be found at 2+2's STT forum.

7.21% roi is not a bad number.

Anything over 0 is profitable.

Okay, so as long as you don't move up you'll be okay.

I think you might make more if you DIDN'T multitable. My very non-mathematical estimate is that multitabling hurts your ROI from about 8-12%. Playing one might be more profitable!

Also from talking to you, you have a thinking-man's mind. You look at every angle of a hand and are a student of the game.

Stick where you are at, because I bet you'll get better as time passes. It's a slow process for all but the most prodigal players. If it takes even a year to be ready to move up, so be it.

I was playing nothing but $5 SNG on UB three years ago. I've moved up a level a year, basically and it has worked well for me.

It's much better to be a small winner where you are, then a loser one level above where you should be.

Obviously, you are improving, so the SNG numbers from 500 games ago may not be your true ROI. Your true ROI might ALREADY be higher based on your improved game.

My guess is that your next 500 SNGs will have a better result.

To discuss a couple points in no particular order brought up in the thread thus far:

My bubble strategy is to try and see if I can absolutely DESTROY the table. If they all tightened up too much on the bubble, I would pretty much raise almost every hand. I've had 11k+ chips with 3 left, and about 10k chips with 4 left many times! I've noticed that sometimes, you may make the push with QT and have something call for their tournament life <span>on the bubble</span> with something like K5! IMO this would lead to more variance, but maybe I am <span>too </span>aggressive on the bubble? Whatever it is, I can tell you it's not passive. I will not go ahead and say that my bubble game is perfect, however. Not by any means. There are probably a number of times when I am not pushing when I should, and, probably a lot more often, pushing when I <span>shouldn't</span>.

I think whoever said I need to win more and work on my HU is probably right! My HU game has some serious leaks, as I find that often I won't commit my chips too often and gamble, perhaps relying a little too much on postflop skills to win it for me. I am, however, not afraid to bluff, and lots of times HU I find you can check from the BB then minbet on the flop at 300-600 and take it down. However, I could be putting too much reliance on that play and not be showing enough outright balls in heads-up play. In order to really figure this out, I'd probably need to find somebody to watch me. I destroy passive players HU, but more aggressive players usually can put the spurs to me and get me to fold. Maybe I should just put them to the test when I have air, instead, and just push with my bluffs instead of standard betting? Then again, I standard bet with good hands, too, so it's tough.

As for non-turbos, I can say they're definitely not for me. I just wind up blowing off all my chips in those things, for some reason.

I am playing all these SNG's on stars.

Overall, I think my HU play and my bubble play probably need a bit of work. I think after the bubble busts, I have to do more pushing and less taking flops since regardless of post-flop skills, there's just not much to work with in the way of chips or implied odds (props to Jennifear to shoving that one into my skull). I defend my BB too religiously in the SNG's to try to discourage people from trying to steal it, but there's probably not enough of a point in it to risk the extra chips to take a flop. There's probably some other mistakes I'm making, but for right now as an inexperienced SNG player, that's what I can see.

do you own sng power tools ? If not look into it

if you're the type that prefers to destroy the bubble, maybe it's best for you to work on getting a big stack early. you shouldn't mind getting in a coinflip early in a SNG, if you win you can use your stack to your advantage to help safely get HU without really having to get to a showdown, if you lose the coinflip-pop open another SNG and get back to work.