Quote Originally Posted by SteveO
First, SNG does not count as "raked hands" for purpose of collecting a bonus.
There are sites that count entry fees towards bonuses. PokerStars counts tournament entry fees towards frequent player points, and UltimateBet awards UltimatePoints towards their deposit bonus.

Quote Originally Posted by SteveO
Third, there is far more luck involved in SNG than a ring game.
I'm not sure I really agree with this. Winning tournaments puts a premium on short handed play, when you will be forced to play more marginal hands. Playing shorthanded is a skill in itself.

One could argue that there's a lot more luck involved in sitting around waiting for AA than squeezing the most out of marginal hands when you have to play them.

Quote Originally Posted by SteveO
Barring a bad beat it is relatively easy to make it to last 4-5 players. But then someone is always the short stack (sometimes it is you) and forced to make some all in moves and then it just becomes a game of drawing cards and luck. Don't get me wrong, for $10 I think it is very entertaing to get down to the last couple people and draw cards.
I don't consider making it to the last 4-5 players as the short stack to constitute good play. You could literally post blind and fold and make it there in many 1 table SnG's. I try to be doubled up by the bubble. If you're not the short stack, you have a decided advantage, and it would be bad play, IMO, to consistently finish out of the money in that situation.

Quote Originally Posted by SteveO
When I first started, I was always in the money at $5-20 SNG. I don't have an accurate count but it felt like I was in the money 2 out of 3 events. Recently, things have gone bad. Maybe only make the mony 50% or less which is not profitable for me. I don't feel like my game has changed, if anything it's gotten better. Just not getting lucky in the end.
If you're in the money even close to 50%, you're making money, unless you're finishing third every time. I've finished in the money in about 45%-50% of the tourneys I've played, and I was up over $500 before winning another $237 in a MT SnG last night. A heathy percentage of my tourney finishes are firsts.

I am admittedly skewed on this since I enjoy playing tourneys and have made money playing them. I find ring games tedious, I am about break-even in them. In most of my losing ring game sessions, I've played too long and made some questionable decisions towards the end of the session. Patience is a big hole in my skill set when it comes to poker.