A Range That Sits Entirely Above Yesterday's Close
Most range rules describe the rectangle and ignore where it is sitting. A gap up that holds leaves the completed opening range floating entirely above the previous session's closing price, and that is a different object from one straddling it, even when the two are identical in width and shape. The breakdown sitting on orb trading setups beekeeping for beginners groups sessions by that relationship first and by width second, because the side of the range with unfilled space beneath it is not defended the way the side with a full session of trade behind it is.
The Unfilled Space Below
Between the range low and the previous close there is a band where nothing traded today. Price moves through that kind of area quickly, because there are few resting orders in it. A break of the range low therefore has more room and less friction than the width of the range suggests, and targets set as a simple multiple of range height often undershoot badly.
The same fact makes the downside break faster and harder to enter cleanly. A resting order handles it. A decision made while watching frequently does not.
The Previous Close as a Magnet
That level is where the last session agreed on value, and a large share of gap up mornings trade back toward it at some point during the first hour. It does not make a short the default trade. It means the downside target has an obvious location, and the upside break is running away from the price everyone is watching.
How Far Above Matters
A range sitting a few ticks above the previous close behaves almost like one straddling it. A range sitting well clear, beyond the previous day high for instance, is a different setup again, because now the whole of yesterday is below and the instrument is in open air. Measuring that distance in units of average true range rather than in points makes it comparable across days.
Volume Tells You Whether It Holds
A gap arriving with heavy relative volume during the range period is being accepted. One arriving on thin volume and then drifting is being questioned, and those are the sessions where the fill happens before lunch. Rvol during the opening period is the cheapest available read on which of the two is happening.
Record the Relationship
Three categories are enough: above, straddling, below. Logged for a quarter, the difference in outcomes between them on a single instrument is usually larger than the difference between a 15 minute and a 30 minute range, and almost nobody measures it because the field is not in most journals.