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strategy

Gap concept

Also: Sklansky gap concept

The principle that you need a stronger hand to call a raise than you would need to open the pot with a raise yourself. The gap exists because a raiser has already announced strength, while an unopened pot has announced nothing.

Example. The gap concept is why she opened king-ten from the hijack and folded it to a hijack open.

The idea was popularised by David Sklansky in his tournament writing and it still governs range construction. Opening from the cutoff is profitable with a wide set of hands because folds are likely; calling a cutoff open from the button with those same hands is not, because the hand you are up against is, on average, far better than a random one.

Three-betting narrows the gap by restoring the initiative, which is much of the reason modern play prefers a raise-or-fold approach to flat-calling with medium hands.

Related terms

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Frequently asked questions

Who came up with the gap concept?

It was popularised by the poker author David Sklansky in his tournament writing.