Most poker players seem to think they understand the concept of variance. By the time you've become a winning player, you realize you cannot gamble above your means and must play within your roll to offset the inherent swings of the game. Yet, even though most of us have at least a basic understanding of variance, only a small percentage of players are able to think rationally and act logically when variance is at its worst.

There are two dominant attitudes among poker players. Those that are emotionally affected by variance and those that are not. The former personality type is far more common, even amongst winning players. Why is this you might ask? Certain players may be predisposed to handling variance well due to certain personality traits, while the opposite is certainly true for players who tend to get emotional and have a tough time dealing with variance. In spite of your natural personality type, my personal opinion is that with experience and due diligence, any poker player can at least improve their ability to cope with variance.

Take the cast from 2m2mm. The vast spectrum of how players handle variance is certainly well represented on the show. On one side, you have Krantz and Ansky, who clearly are emotionally affected by the monetary swings of the game. This is apparent in their attitudes both on and off the tables. If either player has a poor session, their happiness and overall mood clearly suffers throughout the rest of the day. I remember one episode where Krantz has to take a leave of absence from the show because he is so mentally unstable from losing money at poker. For someone who both coaches and plays the highest stakes online, this was pretty eye opening and seemed a bit ridiculous. On the other hand of the spectrum, you have Whitelime and Flawless. I don't think I've ever heard Whitelime complain about running bad. Flawless is the same way. When Krantz or Ansky gets emotional, I've noticed that Flawless actually tries making fun of them to show them just how absurd they are acting.

My personal ability to cope with variance still leaves a lot to be desired. One of these days, I'm going to film myself playing a session. I'm quite curious to see just how absurd my body language and temperament looks on camera. I oftentimes yell at my monitor or break things in an attempt to release my rage. I've been playing long enough where I thought I'd just grow out of this behavior. The truth of the matter though is it hasn't happened yet. In order for me to get better at handling variance, I'm going to need to consciously focus on controlling my emotions, until I get to the point where I am completely indifferent to my results. I certainly have a long way to go but admitting as such is a great first step.

I know I will have conquered my inability to deal with variance when I am satisfied with my sessions regardless of the outcome. Instead of going off the deep end when I lose, I need to think to myself, "so what, you lost some money playing online poker, big deal". Remember, its just a job, not your life. Treat it as such.

Hopefully you all can take something out of this post. Best of luck at the tables