The GAP Concept

For those of you who don't already know, "The Gap Concept" is an important tool you must use to be successful in NLHE tourney poker.

The Gap Concept comes from the mad mind of David Sklansky. Simply stated, the gap concept means that you will need a better hand to call an opening bet than you would to open the betting yourself. So, if you were first to act with AJ suited, a hand made for the gap concept, you could open strongly with it, but if you had to respond to a bet of that exact size holding AJ suited in later position you should fold.

The difference between the strength of the hand needed to call the opening bet and that of the hand needed to make the opening bet in the first place is "the gap". The gap widens or narrows depending on the type of opposition you face, and the gap concept is crucial in no-limit tournaments. The gap concept is also influenced heavily by the size of your stack, but as a general rule it may be wise to open the betting holding pocket deuces but it is nearly always foolish to call that bet with the same cards.

It's also crucial to watch your table, and see who may be overusing the gap concept. When you have a good read on a loose player, aggressively overusing the gap concept, you can come over the top of him and make him fold preflop, with less than premium hands, so long as you have the chip stack to be able to make him fold. Also when facing a bet preflop from that same player, come strongly over the top with your premium hands. Make them pay to try and crack your kings with 7-4ss. Make the gap player narrow his gap when you have position on him.

Gap Concept works best when you have a strong table image. After you've won some pots with monsters, you can widen your gap, but be careful not to overuse it. We all know you can't have it every time.

Experiment with the gap concept. Commit to always raising when it's folded to you preflop, and you have a hand you want to play. Represent strength with any hand you want to play, when you are the one opening the betting. It's much harder to call a bet than it is to limp.

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