Is this normal?

[SomethingClever]

The lower my standard deviation, the more I get my face pwned.

Standard deviation a healthy 17? Winning 3+ BB/100

Standard deviation around 15? Breaking even

Standard deviation around 13? Losing 3 BB/100

[pzhon]

What is the standard deviation of your AA hands? It's high, much higher than your standard deviation of an unplayable hand that you muck from any position. When you are getting a lot of good starting hands and hit many flops, your standard deviation goes up. That might explain the pattern you see.

For completeness, the total variance is the sum of the inter-hand variance (the variations from which hands you are dealt) and the intra-hand variance (the luck after you know your cards). Getting a playable hand like KQ contributes little to the inter-hand variance, but it increases the intra-hand variance.