Every poker player has to deal with the mental aspects of the game. Mental problems can develop in many ways. Even a long winning series can lead to changes in your game if you play too aggressively and too loosely. But the most important capability is the capability to deal with being defeated.And although you are playing your best game, temporary losses will occur, even long phases of loosing will happen ("downswing"). This is normal, and no reason to give up or play differently. Make sure that you play the right levels for your bankroll so that you can weather out those downswing phases. Still, if you loose for a longer period of time, the first thing that you do is evaluate your game. Try to find bad moves that may have become a habit. Have you been playing too many starting hands lately, did you cold-call too often? Using a statistics software like PokerOffice or Poker Tracker can be a great help here. You can replay your hands, check the statistics to find out with which starting hands you have had the biggest losses and many more. Checking your game, finding "leaks" and eliminating them is a life-long task for a poker player. To think there is no room for improvement in your game can be fatal.On the other hand, analyzing your lost hands will sometimes lead to the conclusion that you have played correctly and still lost. Well that's tough, but now you know that you are not the reason for your downswing - it was just bad luck!Changing your game because you have played a hand correctly under the given circumstances is definitely not a good idea. Unless you see the necessity to change your game because the characteristics of the table and the players have changed, play your usual tight-aggressive game. On the other hand, when playing tournaments and SitnGos, it sometimes pays off to plant a specific images of your playing style into the mind of the other players - just for the purpose of using this image they have of you to your own advantage.It happens all the time: You put in a big raise with AA, and the guy behind you calls and follows you all the way to the river, where his miracle card completes his gutshot. After such a Bad Beat, do not despair. Even if a player hits his backdoor straight draw with two miracle cards on turn and river - do not waste time telling him what a fool he is, he will not know what you are talking about in the first place. "But I won that hand" he will tell you. Use that time to add him to your buddy list and win your money back next time when he cold-calls your raise with 78o. It's part of the game, and those opponents are the ones who you want to play against - and the price you have to pay is that eventually you will get beaten like this. Hey, it's just one hand - tell him what a great player he is, and he will lose the money back to you later.More strategy tips for poker players here: Test Report Online Poker Rooms, Bonus Code