1.2.3gamma is not a pre-release version, it is a malformed version string (assuming SemVer). A proper SemVer is something like [0-9]+[.][0-9]+[.][0-9]+(-[0-9a-zA-Z]+)?([+][0-9a-zA-Z]+)?
> 2. A normal version number MUST take the form X.Y.Z where X, Y, and Z are non-negative integers, and MUST NOT contain leading zeroes. X is the major version, Y is the minor version, and Z is the patch version.
I wrote this example, because I knew the answer. And your interpretation (the same as my initial one) is wrong :)
> Pre-release versions have a lower precedence than the associated normal version.
[1] https://semver.org/#spec-item-9