The gap concept is a term coined by poker author David Sklanksy, out of all the advanced online poker tips, mastering this will give you the biggest increase in your profit from online poker. Essentially the gap concept states that you need a better hand to call a bet than you do to raise (or re-raise). Here's a basic example to show you the gap concept in action. You in a midway through a poker tournament, you've got an average chip stack. The player under the gun (first person to act) makes a raise 3x the big blind. You look down at your hand and you have Ace Ten off suit. The gap concept states that you have to have a better hand to call than you do to raise, which means - as Ace Ten is not an amazing hand, that your only options are to raise or fold. This is where you must make the decision of whether to raise or not, let's look at the possible situations that arise from your decision.
1. You raise and after thinking for a while he lays his hand down, you gain the blinds and the 3x blind bet that your opponent made.
2. You raise and he calls, you now have to see the flop and decide whether to make a continuation bet or not (entirely situational).
3. You raise and he re-raises, you've found out a lot about his hand. If he's willing to re-raise you can lay your hand down and not lose any more chips, note that if you just called here you would have no idea where you stood on the flop - and you could've lost a lot more chips than you did.
These are the outcomes for the correct gap concept method, although in situation 3 you lose your chips, you've limited how much you lose in the hand by finding out what your opponents hand strength is early.
4. You call, once the flop comes down you have absolutely no idea where you stand. You might get 'lucky' and hit a monster, but most likely you won't. Even if you hit your Ace you don't know if he has a better kicker, you are in no-mans land.
This is the outcome for the incorrect use of the gap concept. Your hand isn't strong enough to just call, you haven't given yourself the chance to win the pot there and then, and you are entering the flop betting stage with no information about your opponent's hand.
5. You fold, you've made the decision that your hand isn't good enough to risk your chips in this situation.
This outcome, although not really part of the gap concept, is still a correct decision. If you don't believe that the risk-reward ratio is there for you to raise, you're better off folding than calling.
The gap concept is an essential online poker tip to learn in order to make profits from online poker. Try this concept out today at the best online poker rooms, with amazing poker bonus sign up codes. If you don't have any money to wager, don't worry! You can use no deposit online poker bonuses to play for free, and still have the chance to win big money with no cash deposit required!