Reducing Variance in Shorthanded Poker

Hey,

I've been playing 5/10 shorthanded 1 to 3 tables, and I think I'm a winning player longrun, especially after rakeback. I don't know because my balance fluctuates constantly between +500 and down -800. Constantly. I'm a 19 year old college student, and these 1200 dollar plus swings are an awful lot of money for me.

Anyways, for a break, I decided to 4 table 3/6 instead of 5/10. Holy crap! The players are so bad. I never have to worry about a 2+2er destroying me. It felt like play money, and me just running over everyone with a semi. It felt great.

Anyways, I'd like some tips on reducing variance, because I think I can make more $/hr on 5/10. Maybe not as good of a BB/100 as 3/6, but I need some tips on reducing variance for this to be viable.

It is not a bankroll issue, it's just that the dollar amounts that I'm winning/losing are an unhealthily large amount of my net worth/life savings, so reducing variance is important, even at the expense of a little EV. Also, I think that thinking about how much money each chip is worth detrimentally affects my play. Knowing I'm dealing with 100's of dollars per hand really affects me. At 3/6, I never got upset about a bad beat because it was such a comparatively low amount of money.

Tips/Thoughts?

Thx,

Kevin

[rivered]

If you want to reduce the swings if winning less it's pretty simple - play 3/6. That's the only option.

[mdeck]

I believe if the stakes are too significant in a literal sense, then you are playing above your comfort level and while your bankroll may be large enough to withstand the swings of 5/10 emotionally you may be unable to. This in turn might lead to tilt, which causes you to play a less-than-optimal game.

Are you saying you have constant 120BB swings? I know that swings happen, but if you're swinging that big with any regularity that I'd suspect that something is irregular with your game.

I think if you aren't prepared to handle the swings of 5/10 monetarily, you should stay at 3/6 for a while until the dollar amounts are more palpable.

You already answered your own question. Play where you are most comfortable.

[mungpo]

Don't play at the 5/10.

[kahntrutahn]

Stick to 3/6... you aren't mentally ready for 5/10 and thats probably causing you to play like ****. The lower BB/100 means you're variance will be much worse, and into a vicious cycle you go!


P.S. there was a post about this recently, and some good points were made about your reducing variance question (should you still feel the need to play 5/10, even though its obvious you aren't ready, use the search and dig a bit... the post is recent)

[stripsqueez]

i guess it depends on what you want to acheive playing poker but to someone who does it seriously this post is ridiculous

how can you stop swings playing short handed limit ? - i suppose i would of enjoyed playing cricket more if it didnt hurt so damn much when the ball hit me - aussie rules probably would of been better if i never dislocated a finger - running might be ok if it never felt like i was going to collapse and die (except that i've come to appreciate thats whats good about it)

variance is the game - you either go with it or you play SNG's - learning how to lose is what short handed limit is mostly about

stripsqueez - chickenhawk

[mackthefork]

Variance is the creamy centre of the poker twinkie.

To paraphrase Bison, and convert him to English. [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

Mack

[meow_meow]

Welcome to running g00t

[MicroBob]

[ QUOTE ]

It is not a bankroll issue

[/ QUOTE ]

[ QUOTE ]
the dollar amounts that I'm winning/losing are an unhealthily large amount of my net worth/life savings

[/ QUOTE ]


these two ideas couldn't be any more contradictory.




[ QUOTE ]
these 1200 dollar plus swings are an awful lot of money for me.

[/ QUOTE ]


if a $1200 swing is too much money for you then you don't have the bankroll to be playing 5/10.


I don't understand how you can say "it's not a bankroll issue" and also say "this is a lot of money to me."

what you are saying makes no sense to me at all.


You might as well be saying: "It's not a bankroll issue...it's just that it's a lot of my bankroll."

[DCWGaming]

As a newer initiate into the 5/10 SH world, I can tell you that if 1k is alot for you to lose, you should definitely move down. I've had a 380BB downswing. Dont know what your life savings is, but if you ran into one of those, I doubt you could stand back up again.