games with the highest or lowest variance

[baboon]

hi
im trying to figure out witch pokervariant has the highest or lowest variance. i know you cant say it in general cause it depends on your playinstile (aggresivenes, stacksize etc.)and your oponents but there is a tendency. ok here is my list from highest to lowest variance (not all games are covered).

1. PL Omaha
2. Seven Card Stud (limit)
3. NLH
4. LH
5. Omaha and Stud hi/lo

explanation:
PLO has the highest variance cause the hands are close in value and your good hands are often up against good or even better draws. in omaha you can flop topset and still be an underdog against a big straight and flushdraw what is not possible in holdem for example.

I think in Seven Card Stud variance is created by multyway pots where several oponents can stick around and chase the favorite down and together they have many ways to improve more than in a flop game like holdem. in general there are more cards out more possible hands and a good hand needs to be very strong to hold up to the end and you seldom get very strong hands.

i think NLH and LH are close in variance. in limit poker draws have "cheap" chances to improve so its difficult to protect a hand but you dont play for all of your chips in one hand in limit poker what you do in NL so in NL you are able to protect a hand with big bets but you also can lose big if somebody sucks out or traps you. maybe there is a problem comparing the variance of Limit and NL/PL. have there been a discussion somewhere about the compareability of limit and big bet poker?

the hilo games should have the lowest variance cause most of the time there is a chance to get a half or quarter of the pot.

of what use is the answer to this question? first of all its just of scientic use (ok my arguments arent very scientific) but second i think its usefull if you are playing on a limited bankroll or you are building your bankroll cause if you can play all the games over average you can play the game with the lowest variance at the highest possible limit (of cause you should take in to account how much you can win at a pokervariant so your choice should be the game witch has the best ratio of BB/100 Hands and variance).

[Zire]

even though its a post about variance, it feels like somehow its not the right forum for this.

[A_C_Slater]

limit hold em has more variance than no limit. A lot of players, pros even won't play limit, they can't handle the swings. Stud has more variance than limit hold em as well based on things i've read in stud for advanced players when they compared it to hold em.

I would say it goes

1. PLO
2. stud
3. limit hold em
4. NL hold em
5. O8/S8

[ocdscale]

My money would be on stud hi/lo for lowest, PLO for highest.

I figure stud has lower variance than omaha because there's more information about other people's hands (And live cards) so you can make better decisions regarding draws.

[Sphere99991]

I feel like LHE is above stud...

1. PLO
2. LHE
3. Stud Hi
4. PLO/8
5. NLHE
6. Limit O/8
7. Stud Hi/Lo

[holdme]

flipamentsssss

[baboon]

[ QUOTE ]
even though its a post about variance, it feels like somehow its not the right forum for this.

[/ QUOTE ]

so where do you think i should have posted?
there is another thing that came to my mind how the variance should change your playingstile in Horse-Tournaments. The games with the higher variance should probably be played more conservative and the lower variance games can be played loser and more aggressive.

[Grasshopp3r]

I think that 5 card draw has the lowest variance and PLO has the highest, at least at the low stakes online games that I play. With 5CD, there are typically 6 players, so you don't get as many big hand battles, ie., it is less likely that someone else catches a big hand when you do.

With PLO, there are bigger pots, more draws and pot odds dictate wild play. Many inexperienced players will push with AAxx offsuit regardless of the flop.

[Jigsaws]

2-7 TD >>>>>>>>>>>>&g t;>>>>>>>> all.

[Derek123]

[ QUOTE ]

there is another thing that came to my mind how the variance should change your playingstile in Horse-Tournaments. The games with the higher variance should probably be played more conservative and the lower variance games can be played loser and more aggressive.

[/ QUOTE ]

THis is actually a really good point.