finishing average

yes i have read the forums and tried to look for this info elsewhere, i promise!

nothing spectacular here. I have done all the normal newbie things but i have one question. According to poker tracker, i average 3.8 (40 odd tournaments) in the level tournaments i play ($5, single table, poker stars, 9 players, NL HE.)

this means i don't really lose money but i hardly make any either. I know the all important bank roll plays a huge part in moving up (I average 4.6 on $10) but at what point do you think you have mastered a level? <3?

And yes, i think i have to do some reading about the mysterious 'bubble' as i seem to come 4th too much for my liking.

For one, you will want to head to the SNG forum and check out everything there. Also there are alot of good regs over there willing to help you with your game, and find any leaks in your play. We have a tournament trimmer on the left of the screen under "Poker Tools". You can go there and upload an entire tournament and then post it in the SNG forum for review.

Second, I wouldn't advice moving up to the $11 SNGs until you are safely beating the $5.50s consistently. I'm not sure what your ROI (Return on Investment) would need to be, but I believe that's what you would need to go by before determining if you are beating a level. Of course though, in the end you can only move up when your BR permits it.

Concerning bubble play, you will need to learn about, and understand, ICM (Independent Chip Model). ICM plays a very strong part in SNGs. One way to help understand it (besides reading about it), is to download the free trial of SNGWIZARD. I would recommend uploading your tournaments into SNGWIZ and reviewing every tournament. And remember to tweak things and not use the default settings.

Good luck.

thanks for your time, i appreciate it