Bloggers / Matthew Pitt / 09 March 2009 / Leave a comment

Fellow Betfair Blogger, Chris '1Tripz1' Edwards recently wrote an interesting article about "The Gap Concept" for the site and I thought I would elaborate on this a little further. For those of you who have not read it, I highly recommend you do but for those of you who will not, I will briefly explain what the concept is all about.

"During the endgame, the Gap almost disappears as the hands you would raise with are now much closer in strength to the hands you would call a raise with."

The idea of the Gap Concept is quite simple. It states that a player needs a better hand to play a player who has opened the betting with a raise, than he or she would need to open the action themselves. The last sentence highlights the fact most poker players prefer to avoid confrontations, especially when someone has shown strength.

There are numerous conditions that occur during cash games or tournaments that actually shorten the gap, i.e. you could call with a much weaker hand than you usually would do, but here are two of the most common scenarios.

Be aware of players who are either on tilt or who appear to be on the slippery slope towards tilting as the gap becomes smaller against these players. A player who has lost a portion or their stack due to a bad beat is a perfect candidate for narrowing the gap needed to call a raise as he will be less likely to be focusing on the quality of his hand due to his recent bad beat. Also, your implied odds are much higher against a tilting player as they are much more likely to pay you off with less then premium holdings.

The second common scenario is when you are down to the last few players of a tournament or are heads up. At this stage players are more likely to be raising lighter than usual and if you wait for a good enough hand, you will probably find yourself being blinded off. During the endgame, the Gap almost disappears as the hands you would raise with are now much closer in strength to the hands you would call a raise with.

Whilst you should be aware of and incorporate the gap concept into your game, you should also know it is possible to bridge the gap and in some cases, close it entirely.

Related Entries

Mind the Gap Concept - Chris Edwards
Being First In - Marcus Bateman
Play Money - Poker for Fun? - Dave Allan

Bridge the Gap Concept at Betfair Poker