The Gap Concept
An important concept in poker, especially in tournament poker
where survival is paramount and players cannot reach back into their pocket to replenish their stacks, is a concept known as “the Gap Concept.” This concept is outlined by David Sklansky in his excellent book, Tournament Poker for Advanced Players. Sklansky defines the gap as being the “difference between the hand you need to call an opener with, and that with which you would open yourself.” He further goes on to explain that “how wide the gap is depends on how tight your opponents play. If your opponents are quite loose, there may be no gap at all." In a tournament, this gap is often extremely high. In other words, in a tournament it is often right to open raise with hands far inferior to those with which you would need to call someone else who open raised.” He explains that the underlying principle behind this is that “you avoid confrontation with those who have already shown strength, and take advantage of those who are trying to preserve their chips.” Sklansky further notes that there is one important exception to the Gap Concept and that is if the players behind you have either a very small or very large stack, loosening up on your normal opening requirements may be unwise.
Over the course of this article, I am going to discuss the principles behind the Gap Concept, how to apply them, and the advantages, disadvantages, and weaknesses of the concept. I'll show you when to use it, when not to use it, and perhaps most importantly how to take advantage of people who overuse it.
So what exactly does Sklansky mean when he explains what the Gap Concept is? Let's look at it from a beginner's perspective. When we look at our cards, our actions are solely determined by the strength of our hand. We do not consider our opponents, their actions, or the likelihood of the actions of players left to act. If we have a pair of tens, this is a good hand and we're going to play it. It's all we know to do.
The Gap Concept is a furtherance upon this basic strategy in that it takes into consideration two distinct scenarios both dependent upon whether you are first to act or not. If you are not first to act, the concept asks the question...has there been a raise in front of you? If there has been, it asks you to further classify the raiser as to what type of player they are. Are they loose, tight, or somewhere in between? If you are first to act, you only need to look at the stack sizes of the players remaining to determine if you can apply the concept.
If the pot has been raised before it gets to you, understanding the tendencies of the player raising, and from what position they are raising, is important. If it is a very loose, aggressive player, the gap is small or non-existent, so to speak, of the hands you can call or re-raise with. The reason for this is simple...they have a wide range of hands that they will raise with, so the hands you can counter attack with is also wide. A hand like King-Jack can be playable against a player like this. It is completely different, however, if a tight player has raised. That King-Jack that was playable against the maniac is no longer playable... the gap has narrowed and is very small now. In fact, against certain players who are very tight and only raise with premium hands like aces, kings, and queens from early position, you can go so far as to narrow the gap so small that you fold all but those very same hands.
When most people think of the Gap Concept, they do not think of raised pots and what hands they can call and re-raise with. They think of raising first to act with any two cards. This is what is known as gap raising and if applied properly can be an extremely effective weapon in accumulating chips. What is the likelihood of players behind you folding – that is the most important thing to know when applying this. If the chances are that they will not fold, then the range of hands that you can open raise with is small...the gap is narrow. If it is a high probability that they will fold, then the range is expanded and the gap is large. In this instance, cards do not, and should not, matter.
Let's look at a couple of examples of where the Gap Concept is applied to see how it works.
Example #1: You have Ace-Jack suited on the button. An extremely tight player who you have only seen raise three times, and every time it was a big pair or big ace, has raised to 4x the big blind from early position. Many players would call here because of their positional advantage. If you are applying the Gap Concept you should fold because of the likely strength of your opponent's hand. I'm not saying you should always fold Ace-Jack suited in this situation, but it's something you need to consider. What are you going to do if the flop comes jack high? Ace high? By calling with trouble hands such as these in situations where your opponent's likely hands have yours dominated, you will find yourself facing very difficult decisions post-flop and can end up costing you a significant amount of chips. The Gap Concept is trying to help you avoid these difficult confrontations by saying “fold here please.”
Example #2: Same hand and position as in Example #1, only this time the player who has raised from early position is a maniac who has raised 8 of the last 12 hands. Now your gap is small and the strength of a hand like Ace-Jack suited is high. Applying the Gap Concept here, not only could you call... but you should more than likely raise because the probability that your hand is the best hand here is high.
Example #3: You are first to act from the cutoff. The three players left to act after you all have medium sized stacks and look as if they are trying to survive to make the money. You look down and see 7-3 off. You can apply the gap here and raise because you know that you likely will win the hand because your remaining opponents will fold. The gap here is large because of your opponent's tendencies.
Example #4: Same scenario as in Example #3, except this time the big blind is a big stack who has shown a tendency to call raises of his blinds. This is one of the exceptions that Sklansky talked about. Here you would need a better hand to raise with so 7-3 off is no good and should be folded. Because of your loose, big stack friend in the big blind the gap is small.
Example #5: Same scenario as in Example #3, except this time the big blind only has 2 big blinds left after posting his big blind. This is another exception explained by Sklansky. When you have an opponent who is so short that their likelihood of calling a raise out of desperation or pure pot odds is extremely high, then you need a better hand to open raise with. 7-3 off is not that hand and should be folded. The short stack in the big blind makes the gap small.
The most important thing to remember when applying the Gap Concept is that you must know your opponent's tendencies in order to apply it correctly. If you just blindly fold a hand like A-J suited on the button because a player raised in early position, you are making a mistake. If you raise every time you are first to act because that's what you are supposed to do according to the Gap Concept, then you don't truly get it.
I cannot stress enough how important it is to observe your opponent's and figure out whether they are tight or loose and what their calling tendencies are when their blinds are raised. If you do this, then you will be able to properly apply the Gap Concept as outlined above. When you first sit down at a table, note how many times a player raises when they are first to act. If they do it too often, then your gap is large against them. If they don't raise often, then your gap is small. Also watch how often they call their blinds. This is kind of the opposite of reacting to raises. If a player calls raises frequently, then your gap should be small against them and you should only raise with stronger hands. However, if they frequently fold to raises then your gap should be large against them and you can raise their blinds liberally.
Continued in Part II
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