The Gap Concept

The Gap Concept is a term first introduced by David Slanksky in his book “The Theory of Poker” – one of the first comprehensive guides to playing poker, published well before the boom of the online poker rooms, and regarded as many current stars of the game as a “poker bible”.

The theory behind the Gap Concept relates to the middle stages of a Sit ´n´ Go or multi-table tournament and states that you need stronger hands to call, and weaker ones to raise.

That may sound a little puzzling to inexperienced players thinking why they should raise with their weaker hands, but there is method in Slanksky´s theory, and like most poker strategies there is a right time to play it and a wrong time.

One of the biggest head-scratchers in poker, live or online, is how to play your marginal hands and the Gap Concept goes part of the way to solving this. What the theory advocates is that, if nobody has shown any strength in the pot by the time it your turn to act, it is to your advantage to raise with a weak/marginal hand rather than try limp into the pot.

If somebody has raised in front of you, then your weak/marginal hand is no longer viable and should be folded. By the same token, if somebody has raised in front of you when you are holding a strong hand, you should simply call rather than raise the incoming bet. What Slanksky is saying here, is that it takes a better hand to call a raise than it does to open the betting.

Slanksky calls the “distance” between the hands you should raise and those you should call the “Gap”, and the “Gap” will vary depending on the tightness/looseness of the table. For example, if you are playing on a tight table with no action prior to your turn, you should enter the pot with a weaker hand than you normally would, but because of the tightness of the table call only with your premium hands if somebody has bet in front of you. This would be classed as a wide gap.

A narrow, or non-existent, gap is when you are playing on a much looser table and can call raises with far more marginal hands as the value exists in the pot to allow you to do this. You would, of course, raise the pot with a premium hand in these circumstances.

The reason that the use of this theory is advocated for the middle stages of a Sit ´n´ Go or multi-table tournament is because, at this stage, many of the tight aggressive and loose passive players will have been eliminated (or you can make allowances for the one or two that remain) and the Gap Concept is easier to operate.

“The Theory of Poker” by David Slanksky was originally published almost 20 years ago, but many of the concepts and strategies that were included in the book are as viable today as they ever were. The book is available from most good booksellers, or from Amazon.com.

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