Mental Factors and Tilt,
Texas Holdem,
online poker,
Multi Table Tournaments
June 7 2009
Variance is the term given to the ups and downs you will experience in any game of chance. Even though
poker is a skill game, where a player can improve their chances with experience and knowledge, every player must endure a
variance between winning and losing. Over a long period of hands a player can calculate what their win/loss variance tends to be. Usually the better your skill level the narrower your win/loss variance. But in theory a variance could be wider or narrower for some people for no apparent reason.
Variance isn't something you look to control or improve. The thing that's important about variance is that you accept that it exists, and that it will always exist within your game. The professionals learn that this is part of it all, and they practice
bankroll strategies to protect themselves from it the best they can. Essentially one has to learn to ignore variance as they experience it, and concentrate on playing the best game they can.
