[AaronBrown]

How you handle this is very important if you want to play lifetime profitable poker.

First, you have to carefully analyze all errors you might be making. When you say 4-1, on what basis? Do you mean you had pocket Q's against suited J 10 and lost on the board? Fine, that happens 1 time in 5 or so, but how much you lose depends on how you play the hand. And more important than how much you lose on the occassional bad beat is how much you win when you do have the better hand. Luck evens out, bad play is forever.

Even if you're sure there's nothing wrong with your play, it helps to change your style frequently. It keeps you sharp and if you have regular opponents, it keeps them guessing.

Next, you want to make all your losses productive. Poker is the only game where you can use bad luck to your advantage. Most players do the reverse, getting passive after a bad beat. They'll let the cards tell them when to get into the pot, and once in they'll call anything but never raise.

You have to do the reverse. Your bad beat was great advertising, but advertising doesn't bring in revenue. You have to play to use it. The guy who drew out on you is feeling good, especially if he believes in luck. He's busy inventing reasons why hitting one of his three outs on the river means he's smart. He's likely to play his next few hands on mood, passive-random. If you get enough bad beats, and milk them properly, the whole table can get in that frame of mind.

The trick in poker is to bank your winnings and make your losses productive.