Hi. Come on in. See what you can find to eat in the refrigerator while we talk about our beloved game of poker.

During my years on this planet, I have stumbled across a few of the secrets of life. I'm going to let you in on one of them now. You can also take this into a poker game, because, after all, life is part of poker. Some people think it's the other way around, but they can be dismissed as being misguided, irrational spindleheads.

Here, then, is the secret: What happens to you is not as important as how you react to what happens to you. You can profit greatly by applying this secret to the game of poker, where sometimes things happen to you. By "things," I mean "losses."

Reacting to losses in a negative way can put you into a negative mindset, and that can decrease the efficiency of your play, which can lead to more losses. (Bummer!) What I'm leading up to is this: Over the years, I've been besieged by a bevy of players moaning about their "bad luck." Some have even tried to tell me their bad-beat stories. I declined to listen, but did give them the toll-free number for my bad-beat hotline: (800) BAD-BEAT.

It isn't that I don't have sympathy for a loss, or have never had any bad-beat losses myself, but listening to the stories is counterproductive. Telling them is even worse. As you keep talking about your losses, you reinforce your subconscious with negative input. To a large extent, your subconscious leads you through life. It's much like a computer. What you put in is what you get out (GIGO - Garbage In, Garbage Out). As you keep putting in "bad beats/bad luck," your subconscious sets up situations with those kinds of payoffs, and you continue on that cycle.

Break that pattern! You can do it simply by adopting what some call a PMA: Positive Mental Attitude. I challenge you to show me just one professional poker player who does not have a positive attitude about winning. A winner is a winner because he thinks like a winner. A winner expects to win - and he expects to win because he does win. Now that's the kind of cycle to establish for yourself, rather than the "bad beats/bad luck" cycle.

I can bear witness that a string of beats or a long run of mediocre cards is certainly no fun. But there is no regulation requiring you to dwell on them - to endlessly retell every detail of every loss. You'd be much better off thinking about your wins. Program that computer in your head with expectations of winning. You might even visualize the wins you've had - and the wins you'd like to have.

Set up a positive expectation.

Realize this: You are responsible for everything that happens to you. There is no sinister force out there "doing it to you." You are in control.

By changing your thinking, you can change your experience. Millions of people have already done it. Now, it's your turn.

Remember the secret: What happens to you is not as important as how you react to what happens to you.

(And, yes, being skillful also helps a lot.)

Change of subject: Here's another of Roy's Rules. Don't play hungry - don't play with a full stomach. Some poker rooms will comp you to a free meal. This is done not so much to reward you for playing there, but to keep you from leaving. But that "free" meal can be costly if you don't use restraint.

Hunger will gnaw at you, creating a distraction from your best game. And a full stomach will lull you into drowsiness as your blood is detoured to your tummy for distribution of the digested nutrients. The solution? Take the free meal, but don't eat everything in sight just because it's free. Practice moderation in all things.

Speaking of hunger, six olives and a can of Cheese Whiz is not much of a meal. Let's go get some chicken. I'll kill the lights while you start the truck.

Editor's note: Roy West, author of the best-seller 7 Card Stud, the Complete Course in Winning, available from Card Player, continues to give his successful poker lessons in Las Vegas to both tourists and locals. Ladies are welcome. Get his toll-free 800 number from his ad on Page 92.