For a change... I played a bunch of MTT free-rolls. I forgot how horrible the players at free-rolls were. And I also played some micro-stakes SNGs to see if my game is still there.

I'm extremely confident with my SNG playing. I feel like I know what I'm doing in nearly every situation. Sure, I get unlucky sometimes, like pushing short-stacked and running into big hands, people making bad calls, or we're all-in pre-flop and I take a bad beat. But I still know I made the right play.

I feel like SNGs are mostly about playing better pre-flop than your opponents. You have to know when to change gears, when to push with any two, and so on.

NL cash has much deeper stacks and so you're faced with far more flop/turn/river decisions. I will admit - I am not an expert hand reader. Sure, I'm getting better at it, but for now, I'll stick with small stacks NL cash, and NL SNGs.

I feel like right now after this devasting week with NL cash, I have to stick with a game I'm comfortable in. So back to SNGs for a while. At least I'm very confident with my play there.

UFC is awesome.

My ROI has now tripled! That's right! I've moved from 1% ROI to 3% ROI!! My lack of luck is ludicrous lately. I just keep telling myself "usually I'd win those - I'm still putting my money in as the favorite the majority of the time" and keep playing.

I've given up on getting a summer job. Instead, I'll put the time into improving my poker skills. That's right, this summer will be another poker as a part-time job one.

I'm still confident in my SNG play despite the terrible luck (see above) lately. I've even jumped up to the 22s. From what I've seen, the players there are basically throwing their money at you. I've even seen a lot of donktacular play at the 55s and above!

My current stats (I had a good night tonight to beef up the ROI):
87 SNGs
Buy-in: 765
Win: 889
Net: +124
ROI: 14%
ITM: 35/87 = 40%

My ITM is ridiculously low, which explains the shitty ROI (and that I've gotten more 3rds than 1sts lately). And the first 50 tourneys or so were 6.5 turbos on BoDog where I encountered insane variance with suck outs and the likes - which explains the low net profit. Now I'm only playing the 22s and 11s (22s take forever to fill on BoDog).

I've almost cleared BoDog's bonus so I can cash out and take advantage of PokerStars current promo! 20% up to $120, so I need to deposit $600. I know PS players are much better on average, but there should still be enough donks for me.

All is well!

I am running extremely hot on PokerStar's $27 turbos right now.

26 SNGs (done in about 5 hours)
$445.50 profit or ~$89/hr
63.46% ROI
ITM: 50%
7 firsts
4 seconds
2 thirds

Most of my firsts came from extremely aggressive big-stack play on the bubble and ITM. See my "Bubble Hand #3" post for more details on the types of moves I did and why.

Eventually I'll hit the typical SNG OTM streak, but I won't be that phased by it. I am extremely confident that I will have at least a 15% ROI at this level in the long-run.