Just Why is Rake and RakeBack Important (go back »)

What is it?

Poker rooms take a percentage of every pot that is played (called the "Rake"). This is how they make their revenue. That set percentage of each pot being taken off the table means that decent players can go through long stretches making little or no money even if they win a few pots here and there. In low-limit games, the rake can be high enough in comparison to the stakes to make the game almost unbeatable over the long term.

This is one reason that much of the poker advice available to newcomers idealistically tells them to build up a bankroll quickly and get out of low-limit games ASAP. In the real world that isn't always possible, leaving some players resigned to playing in the low limits much longer than they would like. Luckily for these grinders there's another option: Rebates for Play!! This is more commonly known as RAKEBACK!!!

It's no overstatement to say that RAKEBACK is one of the greatest creations of the online poker boom. In essence, it's a deal between you and the house to recover a portion of the rake you pay and return it to your bankroll. Rake back deals are possible with online poker rooms because the costs of running such rooms are dramatically lower than running a brick-and-mortar (live) poker room. These rooms still take a rake like a brick-and-mortar casino would, but they can afford to pay some of it back in exchange for player loyalty without losing any of their profit margin. While a
handful of small online card rooms pay rakeback directly to players, the majority of rakeback deals are done through sites affiliated with card rooms.

High-limit players can certainly benefit, but it's the low-limit players who have the most to gain from rakeback. Consider that most online poker rooms take a rake of 5% up to a maximum amount, usually around $3-4. If a $2/$4 limit holdem player wins an $80 pot, he's actually paying the house a full 5% of his winnings. If a $100/$200 limit holdem player wins a $2000 pot, he's paying the house less than 1% of his winnings. The low-limit player's rakeback can be the difference between being a break-even player and a winning player; the high-limit player's rakeback is more likely to simply provide spending cash. If you're trying to build a bankroll by playing anything below $5/$10, it's to your advantage to find a rakeback deal.

It is also worth noting that rakeback almost always applies only to cash games -- deals that will also return a portion of your tournament entry fees to you are few and far between, so if you mostly play tournaments you're going to have to add cash games to your repertoire if you want to get value from a rakeback deal.

How Does a Player get Rakeback?-How is it Determined?

Poker RakeBacks are literally a rebate of the poker rake contibuted on each pot. You are paid a specific percentage of the rake that you generate. This rebate is paid to the "RakeBack Provider", who in turn distributes the vast majority of this commission back to you as your Poker RakeBack.

Most poker sites determine the amount of poker rake you generate by taking the actual rake of each pot and dividing it by the number of players that were dealt cards in that hand. For example, if the pot is raked $3 and 10 people were dealt cards, then each person generated $0.30 in rake for that hand. Your Rake Back is a percentage, typically 25% to 50%, of that $0.30, regardless of whether you win or lose the hand. This may sound like a small amount, but it really adds up because of the speed of internet poker. In addition, multi-tabling can exponentially increase the
rake, and therefore your Rake Back.

Whether it covers the cost every month of a case of your favorite beer, dinner out, tickets to see your favorite team, or is enough to pay your entire rent or mortgage, getting a healthy percentage of your money back is better than letting the online poker rooms keep it. And remember, just like comps at your favorite casino, it's free money.

Who Provides RakeBack?

To get a rakeback deal, you must locate and choose a reliable "RakeBack Provider" (an affiliate website who offers rakeback for various online poker rooms). Once you have become a member of the "RakeBack Provider", you follow directions on their site concerning the details for signing up for RakeBack on each individual poker room they represent. Generally, you can only apply for RakeBack for online poker rooms that you do not currently have an account. But that is not always the case, so check the requirements of the RakeBack Provider.

Since these sites handle your rakeback money (that they get from poker sites), it is important to be cautious when joining.

This Poker Resource Site Recommends quality RakeBack Sites

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