Poker Pro Alexander Fitzgerald Reveals 5 Psychological Traps That Sabotage Good Players

Professional poker player and bestselling author Alexander Fitzgerald, currently residing in Denver, Colorado, sheds light on the psychological traps that can sabotage good poker players. Even the most skilled players can find their performance undermined not by lack of ability, but by hidden patterns in their own thinking. Understanding the psychological traps that quietly sabotage decision-making is often the missing key to unlocking consistent success.

Fitzgerald highlights several common traps that players fall into. One such trap is the belief that the best hand one has had in an hour is significant. He explains that card distribution is always random and that saying "This is the best hand I’ve had in an hour!" is irrelevant to the current hand. Similarly, the statement "He can’t have it every time!" is a generalization used to justify gambling, but it doesn’t mean you can necessarily call in a particular spot. Fitzgerald advises players to be patient and wait for the right moment.

Another trap is the fear of being exploitable. Fitzgerald shares an experience where he went into a cardroom and no one noticed his play even after three months of not running a single bluff. He played only 12% of his starting hands and only triple barreling when he had it. No one folded or cared. People are often distracted by their cell phones, watching sports, or enjoying their own cards. They are not thinking about what you had when you overbet and no one got to see the hand. Fitzgerald also discusses the trap of thinking that people will notice if you always do the same thing. He shares that multiple people he plays against never notice his betting strategy, which has remained the same for years.

Fitzgerald also addresses the trap of not wanting to leave a game with a certain number of chips. He observes that people often bring $600 to the cardroom to play $1-$3, buy-in for $300, lose it, buy-in for another $300, lose a sizeable pot, and end up with $114. If they feel they’re not playing well, they should get up and leave. However, that $114 is going to be fired into the middle at some point as a desperate Hail Mary. The same kind of thing happens in tournaments. People lose 70% of their chips and give away the rest because they don’t want to grind a short stack for hours. Fitzgerald advises players not to give away those chips. Anyone can win when the deck is hitting them over the head. Real players can deal with bad streaks.