W
wilywiles
Rock Star
Silver Level
When you really begin to understand poker, which I think comes after something like 50,000 hands at least, you become full aware of the beast, Variance. Variance works in two ways however. You may be graced by its benevolence, be it say with a 2 outer. Or you may be slain by its wrath, with pocket aces and lose to AK on a 10 J 5 board and a queen comes on the river. Variance is actually a mathematically supported condition that I am sure you are well aware of as a poker player. One thing important to remember is to be ready when things dont go as planned. The best way to counter this, in my opinion, is to implement betting patterns that do not vary based on the strength of your hand. Especially preflop. Preflop is the most important street to make your decision on because the decisions you make can very much control your entire fate, at least in tounrnament poker. One thing to heed cautiously is the concept of variance and why you do not want to lose faith in your game if you are just getting hit by the wrath of variance. A good rule of thumb I follow to reenforce my game is if I lose a tournament when I was a head and underdog caught up, not to let it affect my confidence in my game because I know its just a matter of the outcome deviating form the expectations and in the long run that will be the right move