When I was reading Card Player magazine recently, I noticed what appeared to be a contradiction between two columnists in the same issue. I think the difference in views is worth exploring.
Ed Miller’s column was titled, “Variance Is Your Friend.” The main thrust of his article was to condemn poker players who try to reduce variance, because doing so means reducing your profit, too, assuming that you have a skill edge on your opponents.
“Variance is where the edges live. Nearly always, if you remove the variance from a game, you’ve also removed your edge,” explains Miller.