GUN RANGE.

A little off topic of poker, but since I had such a good time I thought I would mention my trip to the gun range. I was able to shoot an AK-47 along with an M-16 and a .45 calibre Springfield. This was my first time shooting a gun that was bigger and more powerful than a .22. WOW what a cool experience.

Cash Games.

Over the last couple of days I had realized that I was going to need to play some cash games to complete my re-load bonus. During that time I had played .50c/$1 NL and also some $2/$4 and $3/$6 5 Card Draw. I was very happy with my results in that I made a nice profit plus bonus. It is time to finish up another bonus that I have at Stars and then looking to start up an account with FullTilt for some rakeback and a $600 bonus. Cold weather is here and that just means more time indoors playing poker.

SHARKSCOPE LEADERBOARD.

After 640 SNGs played on PokerStars I have made it onto the sharkscope leaderboard. Under Holdem 9-10 seated $2.50-$5 Average Profit (last 500 games) section, I am ranked 11th at $1.67 Average Profit per SNG. This has been one of my top goals that I am proud to have achieved. Now it is time to start focusing on changing over to turbo's and adapting to being a successful player while increasing the number of tables that I multi-table.

Playing with the PROS.

Just the other day I was playing on PokerStars and noticed that Vanessa Rousso was loading up some SNGs so I decided to join one of her tables. At the lower stakes $11 SNG, it had seemed that players were just trying to stay out of her way. Then she had taken 8th while I rolled into the money. Not that exciting but it was my first experience playing with a pro poker player.

Grinding Away.

I have been just grinding it away at the SnGs. I am not getting in the amount of games that I had expected to play over this past month. I am now at 590 SnGs on PokerStars and have been able to maintain a 31% ROI. My goals that I have set out for myself must be simplified for now to just getting in more time at the tables. Hopefully more time playing will also result in more entries to my blog, with positive results.

MTT

Titan poker had given me $5 in my account so that they could try to get my business back again. So I took it to a cash game and doubled it up in 5 minutes. At this point I decided to enter a MTT with my freeroll winnings. I entered a MTT with 687 players and was able to get 6th place for a nice pay out. Well back to sit and gos for me.

500 SNGs.

I have now played 500 SNGs at Stars and am happy with the results. Here is my last 47 SNGs that I have played that has got me up to the 500 mark:

Entry Fees: $5.50 x 47 = -$258.50
1st Place : $22.50 x 6 = +$135.00
2nd Place : $13.50 x 9 = +$121.50
3rd Place : $9.00 x 10 = +$90.00

TOTAL : +$88.00 ROI: 34%

It looks like I will focus on playing 3 to 4 tables at once for the next 100 or so SNGs and see how that goes.

Summer Slowdown.

Over the last several weeks it has been difficult to play online with summer here now. I had only managed to play 30 SnGs in the last several weeks on Stars with a 24% ROI. It looks like I have about 100 games more to play before I can make it onto the sharkscope leaderboard. Over this time frame that I have not played much, it has given me time to study the game at a higher level using ICM calculations and evaluating any mistakes that I have made in previous SnGs. During this time I have also read many poker articles on strategy, used 2+2 forums for a great resource and read Harrington on Hold'em Expert Strategy for No-Limit tournaments; Volume 1 : Strategic Play. Also I been following the WSOP coverage online which is getting me pumped up for finshing off my last 100 or so SnGs at the $5 level so that I can step it up to the next level and see where it takes me.

Taking a Break.

I have only played 20 Sit and Gos over the last ten days or so due to the nice weather we've been having. In the 20 that I have played I am up $95 and running right at 50% ROI over that period of time. This week I am going to put in a better effort of getting in more games and also returning to play at PokerStars to start clearing the bonus that they have currently running. These last 20 Sit and Gos have increased my Avg. ROI at PokerRoom up to 26%. I feel that the games going on in PokerRoom might be hard to leave due to how soft they are.

PokerRoom

I have just completed my sign up bonus at PokerRoom for $120. I have had many things going on in the last couple weeks so it took me almost two weeks to clear this bonus and play 115 SNGs. PokerRoom has very loose-aggressive players at these low limits. On PokerRoom I play under the screen name BigPivel. During the 115 SNGs:

I played
55 - $5 SNGs.
60 - $10 SNGs.

AVG. ROI 19%
AVG. PROFIT PER SNG $1.55 WITHOUT BONUS - $2.59 WITH BONUS.

Total profit: $178+$120 bonus= $298

I included Avg per SNG with and without bonus just to show the big difference that a bonus can make especially at these low limits.

Goals and Accomplishments.

Welcome to Pivel's Poker blog. Some of my poker goals and accomplishments will be listed here on a regular basis. Currently on Poker Stars I play under the name of Pivel at low limit Sit and Go's. Currently I have played 453 games with an Avg. Stake of $6 and my Avg. Return on Investment is at 33% for a Total Profit of $1,026. My goal is to make it onto the sharkscope leaderboard at this level before moving up to higher stakes.

Some of my most current results:

188 SNGs PLAYED:

1st - 33/188 = 17.5% +$561
2nd - 34/188 = 18% +$459
3rd - 24/188 = 13% +$216
4th-9th - 97/188 = 51.5% -$533
ITM = 48.5%

TOTAL = $703 PROFIT
AVG PER SNG = $3.74 PROFIT