Even a bad player can get "lucky" from time-to-time by getting miracle flops to make winning hands out of pure trash. Conversely, a good player can suffer a string of bad luck causing them to lose.

All players at one time or another will experience a losing streak. When this happens we need to determine if the "losing" was brought about by bad play on our part or just a negative fluctuation in the luck of the draw. When you start losing, the first thing to do is to look at your game a little more thoroughly. Many players do not like to admit that they have been playing badly but in order to be a winning player you need to be honest with yourself so you can identify and correct any problems with your game.

If the losing streak is being caused by bad play you need to determine why and then take action to correct the situation. To determine if this is the case, there are several things you should ask yourself first.

1. Did you loosen your standards for starting hands?
2. Are you misreading the board?
3. Are you playing too aggressively?

If you can honestly answer no to these questions then it may be that you were just suffering a string of bad luck. If, however, you have been playing differently you need to make some adjustments.

When a baseball player is experiencing a hitting slump he will usually go to the batting cage and work on the basics of his swing. As a poker player, you will at times need to go back the basics of the game that made you a winning player.

Many players going through a losing streak find that they have loosened their standards for starting hands. They have had great success and many winning sessions and soon they think they are invincible. You start entering the pot by playing hands out of position. You tend to take more chances and end up playing too many hands.

One thing you can do to combat this is to tighten up your game a little more. Play only the very best hands that you would play from early position and forgo some of the drawing hands that you might have been playing.

Sometimes your losing may be caused by what Poker Guru Mike Caro refers to as "Fancy Play Syndrome (FPS)." Instead of playing a straight forward game, you are attempting to out fox your opponent by slow playing, check raising, or bluffing too much.

Players on a losing streak may find that they have been playing more aggressively. You may be raising more to try and bully your opponents. Now, it might be time to chill out and just play a normal game.

It’s common for players to move up in limits as they become more proficient. Many times when you move up you will encounter players that are more skilled. If you find that your losing streak started when you moved up you may want to drop back down to a lower limit. It’s much better to be a winning player in a low limit game than a losing player at the higher limit.

Most of the time, going back the basics of only playing the best hands in a straight forward manner will quickly turn your game around. If you have been losing, give it a try.