The first teaching of this concept in poker mathematics is that this game has a component of chance, but it is much less important (in the long term) than in all casino games. Why else are there not always (or almost) the same players in tournament finals? The other teaching is that it is a long-term game, where punctual results matter very little.

Now the poker variance has no memory like in free bets. Therefore, the player in the previous example should not play like a madman hoping that in the next game he will win 60 of the 90 hands in which he participates only because of variance. Or yes, but you shouldn’t trust it. In the next game you will continue to have 40/90 as a reference, and in the long term you will have towards that value.

How To Deal With Variance

All right, I know what variance is in poker . Now what do I do with it? Very well, there are psychological rabbits so that this deviation from the probabilities does not affect you in a negative way, and there are others that directly affect your decisions. Let’s go there:

• Cold Mind: Okay, you’ve lost to a player who played the game. Humility first. Did you do everything right? What can you improve? If that hand has been spotless on your part, patience. 
• Stability in game selection: If you always play tables with similar blinds or cash with similar prizes and entries, you are less likely to be adversely affected by variance. On the other hand, in a very big tournament you cannot afford a bad streak, because you will be out. More consistent and moderate prizes to prevent variance in poker .
• Do not change your game after a bad result: The game is different depending on your situation at the table. But just because you lose a hand doesn’t mean you have to be super-aggressive. Control and apply your style of play, and do not do crazy things to recover what was lost with a bad hand.