A Discussion of Variance

[mosuavea]

In the moving from limit to NL post Pokey posted:

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For one thing, limit has much more volatility than no-limit. I'll say that again, since it sounds so stupid: limit has much more volatility than no-limit. Look at the BB/100 graphs of a selection of limit players, then look at the BB/100 graphs of a selection of no-limit players and you'll quickly realize that the limit players have FAR longer stretches of break-even or losing play, even among good players. There was a well-respected limit player who was OBVIOUSLY good at the game but who had a break-even stretch that lasted 20,000 hands. A decent, winning no-limit player would NEVER have a similar situation occur.

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A little backgorund: After playing 75K hands of limit, I decided to switch to NL and had great success. I made the switch in roughly May of last year and have played 140K hands of NL in that time ranging from 25-200 at various sites, mostly at Party and skins.

It is definitely true there is less volatility in NL when compared to limit but saying that a winning player cannot go through a 20K+ range of hands where he/she breaks even /loses I believe is very wrong. I post this image for discussion: