Sit and go profit potential

When I last quit playing sit and gos, I did so because I saw no profit potential in them. I lamented the exorbitant increase in the entry fees PokerStars was charging, since that's what turned sit and gos from a winning proposition into a losing one for me. However, I failed to analyze the profit potential of 8-game sit and gos on their own, and that was a mistake. Based on the small data sample I have so far, 8-game sit and gos have a long term profit potential for me, even with the exorbitant entry fees. Here are my 8-game sit and go place counts so far:

place   count(*)
1           9
2          11
3           6
4           3
5           6
6           2

If I had played every one of these tournaments at the old buy in $50,000 / entry fee $800 structure, I would have made a profit of $1,030,400. If I had played every one of them at the new buy in $45,000 / entry fee $5,000 structure, I would have made a profit of $769,000. As it is, I've played a mixture of structures, including some at much lower stakes, so my actual profit so far is only $421,610. There are two huge takeaways from this analysis:

1. when I play sit and gos, I must only play 8-game ones
2. when I play sit and gos, I must try to play them at the higher stakes

#2 is easier said than done. The lower stakes tables fill up much more quickly; it sometimes takes an hour or more for a higher stakes table to fill up. Last night, I didn't have time to wait around for a higher stakes table.

buy_in entry_fee num_players num_hands place winnings

   900       100           6       123     1     3510

delta: $2,510
sit and go balance: $1,645,950
balance: $9,607,230