Variance in Poker – Accepting the Swings

[Houbi37]

Poker is a game of skill, but variance plays a big role in the short term. Even perfect decisions can lead to losses. Accepting variance is key to long-term success. How do you deal with downswings?

 

[BillyR23]

It's never easy to deal with many losses in a row, downswings suck lol... even after 10+ years of playing the game I still have issues when a downsing hits, what helps is taking (short) breaks from the game and also facing the reality that we can just make the best decisions we can/play our A game and can't control how the boards run... increasing our chances of winning by constantly studying to improve our poker game/skills, having a good bankroll management, picking the right games to play in etc. is the most we can do!

 

[Omar.Imrane]

In simple terms: luck deals the cards, but skill decides whether those cards will make you win or not in the long run.

 

[ammje]

We have to accept that if we play poker we are going to lose money, even the best players like Adrian Mateos, have bad streaks and lose money, but playing a lot of tournaments, and playing on the bench, you can overcome the variance.

 

[A kiravio]

In simple terms: luck deals the cards, but skill decides whether those cards will make you win or not in the long run.

We can't really deal with the variation. ...many times you play very safe but nothing or nothing consistent comes in.... and many times you give up pots that were yours for fear that your opponent has something harder. How long do you have to play safe and when do the results come?

 

[Kasztor007]

Accepting variance is one of the hardest parts of poker. When I’m in a downswing, I try to focus on the quality of my decisions rather than the results. If I feel tilt coming, I take a break. Reviewing hands and proper bankroll management also help a lot, because they remind me that good play pays off in the long run.

 

[martDdart]

I keep going and focus on sticking to my gameplan and getting payed back my losses in the long run.

 

[Omar.Imrane]

We can't really deal with the variation. ...many times you play very safe but nothing or nothing consistent comes in.... and many times you give up pots that were yours for fear that your opponent has something harder. How long do you have to play safe and when do the results come?

Honestly, it’s really hard to deal with variance. A lot of the time you play very carefully and still get nothing, or no consistent results… and other times you give up pots that could have been yours just because you’re worried your opponent has a stronger hand.
The real question is: how long should you keep playing this cautiously, and when do the results actually start to show?

 

[theStarfish]

As hard it might seem, you have to learn to live with it. There is nothing you can do against bad beats except keeping your focus.