Brian Townsend has taken the online poker world by storm as of late. He literally came out of nowhere, playing the lowest level games online just a short year ago, and can now be seen duking it out with the likes of Phil Ivey and David Benyamine on a nightly basis, under the aliases of Aba20 on PokerStars and Sbrugby on Full Tilt Poker.

The big question though: will variance come back and bite Townsend in the ass? This is a guy who admittedly plays over his bankroll, because smaller level games "bore" him. This is a guy who fares really well against the top names online, but in reality, is a bankroll of a couple of million dollars enough for 300/600 no limit hold'em against the top names in the world?

There is no doubt that Townsend is a great player, however one must wonder if he has the bankroll and mental fortitude to withstand a month long cold streak playing the highest games. I would like to think that Townsend would be smart enough to drop levels in the midst of a coldstreak, however, many a top player has been decimated by pride when they refuse to drop levels. Playing in the biggest games against the best players is rather intoxicating.

I see Townsend playing multiple tables, with 100k on each table, and wonder if he could withstand a particularly rough month. Will Townsend still be crushing the biggest games in a year? Or will he be an Internet flash in the pan? Only time will tell.