So you're playing, and it doesn't matter what you get. KQ suited with 2 pair flopped, and someone draws to the river to make a straight. Flop a set, lose to a turned higher set.

Everyone who's played poker for any reasonable length of time has seen it. You've been hit with a cold deck. What to do?

Well, first of all, don't bitch and moan to your neighbor. All it does is kill your table image -- you begin to look like a loser, and your opponents will adjust accordingly. You'll get tons of calling action... but that means that you'll have to beat 4 or 5 other hands, instead of only 1 or 2. (as an aside, whenever my neighbor wants to tell me a bad-beat story, I tell them that it's a $1 listening fee for them to tell me. Quite honestly, half the time, they toss me a white chip and begin the story. Hey, it pays for cocktail tips....)

So, step one to beating a cold deck: Shut up. No whining. There's no crying in baseball, and there's no whining in winning poker.

Step two: Tighten up. Most players (myself included) play too many hands. Think raise or fold, preflop, unless there's a ton of players already in -- that might allow you to play your J T, but remember that you've got a drawing hand, you need to hit either a straight or flush draw, or at least 2 pair, to make it past the flop.

Step three: Value-bet more. If your table image is shot since you've shown a string of losers, you're going to get more calls. Start betting your hand more -- don't get tricky, just play straightforward aggressive poker.

Step four: Begin taking a long-term view. It's hard, believe me, for most players to see beyond the current session, but remember that your poker career is just one long game. What matters is not how you do this hand, this hour, this session, but that you make the correct decisions. You'll always be right to fold 7 2 under the gun, even though the flop could come out 7 7 2. Folding saves you money, long-term, and money saved spends the same as money won. Short-term, any two can win, but long-term, the best two will win out more, so do not get frustrated and play crap to win a pot.

Here's hoping your cold deck periods are as short as possible!

The check is an often-overlooked tactical maneuver, and one that can be profitable for you if used in the correct manner. Most players look at a check as "that thing you do when you can't bet." Au contraire!

Consider the following hand. It's a low-limit game, and you've limped in with 5 other players, you're on the BB with 77, the flop comes K72 rainbow. You're holding the second nut, a likely winner with your set, and it's reasonable to think that someone's limped in with a K; you can count on a bet from someone behind you. In this position, many players would simply bet out the whole way though the hand, flop turn and river.

Wrong.

Check-call the flop (again, it's a low-limit game, someone's stayed with a king, even with a rag kicker, and they'll bet), check-raise the turn, then bet the river. Doing the math, assuming everyone calls all the way through, you'll have 15 big bets in the pot (10 small bets preflop and on the flop, or 5 big bets total, and 10 big bets from the turn and river) if you bet all the way through, but the checkraise will win you as much as an extra 5 big bets. Who wouldn't object to an extra $30 in a $3-$6 game?

But, what if your checkraise drives out players? Figure that most players will fold if facing 2 big bets cold, so it depends on where the betting action is coming from; if the better is just to your left, checkraise at will (you check, they bet, 3 calls, you raise, and then there's calls aplenty). If they're the button or cutoff, that means your checkraise will run out some players (check check check, bet, call, you raise, then 2 players face a double bet and fold). In that case, you can check call the turn, and checkraise the river (drawing hands will fold to any bet anyhow).

Checks aren't just for saying "I've got nothing in my hand," sometimes they're perfect for saying "I want you to bet so I can raise." Remember, when you've got the best of it, put the most money you can into the pot!