Online Poker Rakeback explained

Staff : May 9th, 2008

Rakeback can be a confusing concept for new players at first, but it’s all pretty simple. Rake is a small amount of money that poker rooms take out of each pot – that’s how they make their money. Rakeback is when poker rooms rebate some of that money to players. It’s one of the ways that online poker rooms ‘comp’ players – if you’ve played live poker, it’s just like when rooms give you meals or points based on how much you play.

Poker rooms generally don’t offer rakeback directly to players. Instead, they allow sites like ours to use rakeback as a way to help promote their rooms. So, the room takes the rake, keeps some for themselves, gives some to us and then gives the rest to you – up to 80% at some rooms.

Here are answers to some more specific questions about rakeback.

Q. What is a rake again?
A. Rake is the small percentage of money from each hand that the poker room takes out of each pot. This is how the poker rooms make their profit. And profit they do! With a rake of up to $4 per hand multiplied by dozens of hands per hour, multiplied by hundreds or thousands of tables 24/7, the poker rooms are doing quite well.

Q. If I am already signed up for one of your partner sites, can I still get paid a Rake Back?
A. Typically not.

Q. I’m very happy with my win-rate at my current poker room. Should I switch to a Rake Back room?

A. Yes! There are plenty of fish at the rooms we promote and the games are quite beatable! Our partner poker rooms give you access to many players new to online poker, and several of our sites are littered with maniacs. You can beat them!And by playing with a Rake Back your earning potential increases dramatically!

Q. Do fees for tournaments and sit & gos count towards rake back?
A. Yes, you will earn your rake back percentage on the buy-in fee at every site we promote.

Q. Does it matter which type of poker I play?
A. No. You can play limit, no limit, Omaha, 7 card stud etc.

Q. Can I still take advantage of signup and reload bonuses?
A. Yes, it is best to take advantage of both bonuses and Rake Backs, although for most sites the bonus amount is deducted from your total rake generated and not the final rake back payment.

For example, if you generate $500 in rake for the month and you receive a sign up bonus of $40, this $40 will be deducted from the $500 MGR (Monthly Gross Revenue) before paying you your RakeBack. So therefore with a 25% RakeBack deal you would receive 25% of $460 which equals $115. As you see in this example, the $40 bonus only results in a $10 reduction in RakeBack commissions.

Q. Do all poker rooms offer rake back?
A. Not all poker rooms offer Rake Backs.

Q. How do I deposit money in a poker room?
A. There are a wide variety of options regarding depositing money to a poker site. Please check with each poker room for a detailed list of their options.

Q. When will I get paid?
A. With most poker sites your Rake Back is paid monthly, although some pay weekly or daily.

Q. How will I get paid?
A. Into your player account at the site.

Q. How much is a Rake Back worth to me?
A. Your RakeBack amount will depend on the limit you play and how much you play. Regardless of whether you play limit, no limit, stud or tournaments, you should take advantage of a Rake Back offer whenever possible. Some of PTPs higher volume players (mult-tabling a few hours per day) have generated monthly four figure RakeBack payments!

To estimate your Rake Back, use our RakeBack calculator. For example, a 5/10 limit player who plays one table/4 hours every day or four tables/1 hour every day would receive about $840 a month, or $10,800 a year in Rake Back.

Q. How is my share of the rake calculated?
A. Sites calculate your rake contribution one of two ways – contributed rake (which is sometimes called rake rebate) and rake share.

Rake Share is calculated by dividing the total rake dropped by the number of players dealt into the hand. So, if 10 players are dealt cards and the total rake taken from the pot is $1, each player is credited with having contributed .10 of rake (1.00/10).

Contributed Rake or Rake Rebate is calculated by figuring how much rake a player actually contributed to the pot. Let’s say 4 players are dealt into a hand and two of them fold preflop. Since they didn’t pay any rake that hand, they don’t receive any credit. Let’s say the two remaining players in the hand go to showdown. Whatever rake is taken in that hand will be split equallty between those players, as they both contributed equally to the pot.

For example, if 6 players are dealt cards at a table and the rake is $3 then each player has contributed $.50 to the rake.

With the speed of online poker, this can really add up quickly!

Q. Why are some poker rooms willing to pay rake back commissions?
A. The more players they have, the more rake/profit they make. In order to attract players to their rooms, our partner sites are willing to reward these new players by reducing their fees, that is, by rebating part of the rake to the new player