If you have played any serious poker in your lifetime, then you have seen the following situation occur at the tables. A player either limps in or raises the pot in early position with a small pocket pair and gets re-popped by another player. As others muck, suddenly a third person joins the battle with a re-raise of their own. The first person calls (or moves all-in), the second person makes their decision, and the third person turns up pocket kings or aces. After the carnage is done, the inexperienced player who was just crushed usually says, “How was I supposed to know he had a big hand?” He should have known what the situation was easily because you always must watch out for the 3bet.
Whether you are playing Limit or No Limit Texas Hold’em, the player willing to take the chance with a 3bet usually has an extremely strong hand because of a philosophy known as the Gap Concept. This theory, originally espoused by noted poker author David Sklansky, opines that a player has to have a stronger hand to make a call or re-raise after there has been action in front of them. In other words, if there has been a raise and a re-raise in front of my action with A-J, I can pretty much count that my cards aren’t going to be good.
A perfect example of this principle in action occurred this summer during the World Series of Poker Main Event. Down to two tables, a player raised with pocket eights and brought a re-raise out of November Niner Steven Begleiter, who held pocket kings. The next three hands after him – pocket jacks, A-K, and pocket tens – took their time to analyze the situation and, one by one, found the muck. Begleiter would go on to win the hand.
What the three players did after Begleiter was take into account the Gap Concept. Because Begleiter was three betting the pot, signaling a big hand, the jacks, Big Slick, and tens knew that they were at the minimum facing pocket queens. In fact, one of the players who folded his hand, 2009 WSOP Main Event Champion Joe Cada (who held the A-K), would not have been around to play for the title had he played his hand.
Even in the current age of aggressive online play, the Gap Concept still has value. If in late position a player holds a mid-pair and sees a raise and a re-raise in front of him, there has to be credit given to the 3bet most of all. In Limit, a player may be able to call the bet and at the minimum see a flop. If the player misses, the hand can easily be mucked. In No Limit, however, the player who calls or re-raises the 3bet could very well be massively behind and/or out of the tournament when they run into a larger pair or A-K.
Even putting the Gap Concept into practice, there are times when a player is short stacked and has to take a shot. In most situations, such as in the early or middle segments of a tournament, a shrewd player will take the time to break down the playing style of the opponent and the situation to determine the price they are getting to make the correct decision.
Exercising the Gap Concept theory may be elementary to many longtime players, but newcomers to the game still make the error in not giving credence to the 3bet. For a player to come over the top of a raise with a re-raise signifies a strong hand that will have most holdings crushed. Therefore, players must be attentive to their opponents’ style at the table.
