How do you play through or handle variance?

When those bad beats start coming in, it becomes stressful to deal with, especially when your running hot and all of a sudden these sick river hits and all these bad beats come in. I was wondering if you guys can give me some tips on playing through variance.. Does it depend on how much you play on the site, or maybe certain amount of hands you gotta playthrough? Are you suppose to be playing more hands, less hands ? or even play bad hands more often then you usually would ? i understand bankroll is a must, but what are other ways i can use or apply so that its much easier to adjust

a lot more volume... focus less in the hands you lost and just give every table the same attention to make the best play in every hand you play, if it doesnt work you just close the table and keep going with the other ones and open 1 more

no stress

Well, the best way not be resulted-oriented. In other words, don't worry about your losses, but instead focus on how you played the hand. If you played it properly and got in good, then the bad beats and variance will all even out in the long-run.

Also, if you are on a major cooler session, just stop playing for the day or at least take a break. Cooler session have a huge negative psychological impact and prevent many players from playing optimally.

Just keep playing like you are you don't want to play more hands because you got a bad beat. It happens (Unfortunately)

The more hands you play the more it evens out variance but this doesn't mean that you go from 1 table to 4 tables (or whatever) to try to cover the variance right away after a bad beat.

Just keep playing and if you are making the correct moves you will come out ahead.

Also don't chase your losses it sucks getting stacked but never go up in levels to try to make it back faster.

Slow and steady wins the race.

I try and detach my play from my results. If you are in "good" it doesn't matter if you win or not. Given that "Sklansky bucks" become real bucks in the long run one needs to play at the correct limits for one's bankroll to ensure one is still playing in the long run.

To me it's real simple. You have to realize that "stuff" happens. In fact, not only does "stuff" happen, but crazy "stuff" happens all the time. All you can do is play the best you can. After that, it's out of your hands, and "stuff" is going to happen sometimes. I guess maybe the more you see it happen the less it bothers you.


I've seen hands play out every way you can imagine. You name it and I've either had it happen to me, seen it happen to someone else at a table, or on T.V. or there is YouTube video of it happening to someone out there. What makes it a bad beat for me is more the circumstances than the cards. The worst beat I've taken happened about four years ago. It wasn't the way the cards fell that made it such a horrible beat. It was the situation and the circumstances and what was at stake. Since then, no beat that I have taken has compared to the one I took that day. You either have to learn to shake it off or quit playing.

S3mper said:

Just keep playing like you are you don't want to play more hands because you got a bad beat. It happens (Unfortunately)

The more hands you play the more it evens out variance but this doesn't mean that you go from 1 table to 4 tables (or whatever) to try to cover the variance right away after a bad beat.

Just keep playing and if you are making the correct moves you will come out ahead.

Also don't chase your losses it sucks getting stacked but never go up in levels to try to make it back faster.

Slow and steady wins the race.

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I do the same! I try to keep playing, forget the lost!

I wish there was a magic line that tells you when its safe to play and when not to play. with that being said, is that what graph charts are for? If its recorded on data, I guess its safe to assume I can use that data to track on improving and swinging up ..

Also, lets say I notice im playing correctly, but im still losing. Would it help or matter on whether I play lower stakes or the same stake? Because if thats the case, then putting volume on more cheaper games to get through is much better to do, just as long as I get through to where I can notice where im getting good variance.. which then leads to playing more volume on the normal stake and try to gain as much as possible before it fluctuates down again .....?

thanks guys, you guys give good pointers, I will take note on your responds. I appreciate it alot. I feel BR is one of my biggest weakness to playing cards and I always find myself shaken up when i lose, but everytime I lose, i learn more and more on what not to do. Overtime, every bit of knowledge has helped me become better. thanks again.

zayzoo said:

thanks guys, you guys give good pointers, I will take note on your responds. I appreciate it alot. I feel BR is one of my biggest weakness to playing cards and I always find myself shaken up when i lose, but everytime I lose, i learn more and more on what not to do. Overtime, every bit of knowledge has helped me become better. thanks again.

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Just remember losing a BI or two from variance is better then losing your roll from loss chasing tilt

I've been rivered between 15/20 times the last 2 days its been unreal, I'll keep playing through and look forward to the days where I'm only getting rivered 2/3 times a day

so recently, i took your guys advice on playing through. And what i notice was recognizing hands on when to play and when not to play. I guess in some way, it almost feels like you gotta have a feel for it. I started playing the SNG MTT On demands .50 cent buy in on BCP and I notice the action I was getting on the games...1st day I win, usually my streak goes well for the day, but in result of playing the days after, I notice the hands I was getting started to result in losing pots.. I tried to play them as best as I could and I was losing to really shitty calls, even lost to a guy who called me all in with 7 2. I figured, i could sit there and keep playing through, or i could stop and take breaks, deal with it tomorrow or the day after... But in between times, I ignored the bad beats and just kept on fighting and just trying to make the bubble everytime. I started to adjust and folded more than I usually would, and tried to call with draws when I coverd my opponents, and even threw away strong hands preflop. Bad hands would show on the flop when I folded them pf. It can play tricks with your head at times, but what helped me look past my emotions and the cards was when I just accepted losing, and just stopped caring about losing, realizing its bound to happen and no matter what I did I can't control the outcome.. So rather allowing variance and tilt to manipulate my decisions, I just decided to keep on playing until i started catching again and eventually I did, I managed to play a few days straight ended up losing and breaking even to busting again. But what I learned from that experienced feels more worth it for me in the long run. I never really took the time to understand variance, bankroll and the reasons why its so important to know what games you play.. It almost feels like that winding path I was walking on was blinded by clouds, and now the path seems much clearer like i now can see whats actually in front of me.

I can't speak for others, but when I get concerned about variance, it's (almost) always when I'm losing money. Periods when I'm winning but less than usual don't affect me the same way. So, I can't help but wonder what your true concern is.

The sooner you realize that poker is a game full of variance, and you just accept it, it just becomes that much easier to deal with. You shouldn't be thinking about the beats, just focus on making more good decisions than bad ones and you'll see your bankroll steadily grow.

Play micro limits 1st 30 min and see if you are on or off.
It's tough to sit out when you got the itch to play.
But some days won't work no matter how good you are.