Poker what is rake

Some poker sites tout generous rewards to attract players and lure them into playing high volume. Either they have a direct rakeback program or they offer a VIP program that rewards you based on how much you play. If you are an active player who plays a lot of pots and is aggressive, then you will enjoy a higher VIP Point per hand accumulation on sites that use the contributed rake method.

However, if you are a tight player who is very selective in which pots you enter, then you are much better off on a site with the dealt method. As you can see, virtually all poker sites are moving to the weighted contributed method. I guess tight is no longer right. Rakeback is usually a flat percentage of rake that is given back to players at a specific scheduled time.

While many poker networks have gone away from offering rakeback , some still offer it to their players. While this article is not a strategy guide, there are a few career management things we can do to increase our hourly rate that have nothing to do with skill. The first thing we can do is to play on the softest site possible that has a reasonable rake structure.

Based on my experience, these numbers are not unrealistic. The effect of having more recreational or bad players in the player pool cannot be overstated. Always choose the softest possible poker site and then play on a stake that is comparable in toughness to the more reg-heavy sites. The micro-stakes may eventually be virtually unbeatable, save for seasoned players who probably would be playing a higher stake anyway. If the micro players continue to improve overall as a group, it will be increasingly difficult for a beginner to intermediate player to start small and build a bankroll.

Even the toughest networks still have plenty of fish at the micros. Based on my rake research, if you are looking to start with a small amount of money and build up, then I recommend the Winning Poker Network. That network has, by far, the lowest rake of any other poker site out there.

Once you have enough to move up to 50NL, move your bankroll to Ignition. For Euro players, you can start at Pokerstars and then move to a softer site like By using this method, you also get the added benefit of being able to clear more of a deposit bonus.

By moving a 50NL bankroll, you can will generate more rake and enjoy a higher hourly rate at the new site while you clear the bonus. I have been playing a 30 to 40 big blind starting stack in cash games since While I was doing this research, I looked through my own database to see how much rake I have personally been paying.

The average is 3. This is jaw-dropping for me and explains why I have been fortunate enough to have a high win-rate over the years compared to other regs. I know, it seems silly to even contemplate that there is something negative about paying less rake. I mean, who needs rewards when you pay that much less rake? Besides deciding to buy in for less money, I think the key to paying less rake lies in the choices we make in pots to enter. I think that your average player gets involved in way too many marginal spots.

Here are a few ways to minimize your exposure to inflated rake:. Basically, this all comes down to shoring up your poker fundamentals, which I talk about in detail in my comprehensive poker tutorial.

Be sure to check it out. Winning money at tournaments is usually much easier since the fields are typically much softer. However, you also have to pay a lot more rake to play these events. However, the bigger the buy-in the less rake you will usually have to pay. One thing to keep in mind is that turbo events tend to charge lower rake than standard ones.

In America, saloons were where you went to do your gambling. Online poker sites are businesses. Just like their brick and mortar counterparts, they have to find ways to make money off of their customers. Charging them rake is the logical way to do so. Now that you are armed with all the information you need about rake, you can make an intelligent decision on both where and how to play in order to further maximize your win-rate.

So, what other things should you keep in mind with regards to poker rake? Most casinos will try to be reasonable with their rake poker takings. However, some will take any opportunity to milk their players as much as possible. Before you even sit down to play, you should inform yourself about the rake percentage and the maximum cap.

While there are differing opinions about the timed rake poker model, one thing is a fact: once you pay your fee, you get to keep every single chip you win in that time slot. This means that timed games favor a looser approach where you want to see more flops and potentially build more big pots. I know this is easier said than done as not everyone lives in a place where they have five different rooms and three tournaments to choose from every night.

But your ROI will be affected by the high rake percentage so you should be looking to move up as soon as you can, or select better games if you have such an option. For example, in some venues, there will be a monthly leaderboard for those who spend the most hours at the table.

At the end of the month, these players are awarded some money or get to participate in a special freeroll tournament. While there is no way to avoid rake in poker altogether, there are methods you can employ to mitigate its influence on your bottom line. Some of them, primarily poker rakeback, have been detailed in this article, and you should take them seriously. As much as it is important to play sound strategy and learn poker , it is equally as important to reduce your costs in every way possible.

Doing your best to avoid paying extra fees and staying away from games with insane rake caps will help you have better results. When it is all said and done, properly managing the rake can even help turn a break-even or a marginal loser into a winning player, so take some time to learn about it and give your win rate an immediate boost!

What Is Rake in Poker? Pot Rake in Cash Games In most cash games, poker rake is paid as a percentage of the pot.

Timed Collection As you could guess from the name, this method of taking a rake in poker is based on the time rather than the amount of money in the pot. Dead Drop Rake Method Although somewhat uncommon and only present in live games like the timed collection method explained above , the dead drop is sometimes used by certain poker rooms. Fixed Rake Finally, some casinos will employ a fixed rake method for their higher stakes cash games.

Instead, I rather focus on what it is that I can do to lessen the blow. So, if your hand is a borderline call in terms of raw equity, you should probably:. If neither option feels right with your particular hand, go for a 3-bet. The difference is staggering! You can do this exercise on your own and change the different variables such as the opener raise size and range and get to familiarize yourself with proper big blind defense ranges.

The sample hand that we will use takes place at the same casino, and we will take a look at both the raked and rakeless situations. Hero is in the CO with two cards 5 folds.

Here is the Upswing Lab -recommended open-raising range for live games from the cutoff:. Note: Want our full library of preflop range charts? Get preflop charts for online cash games, live cash games, and tournaments when you join the Upswing Lab. Learn more now! The process is very similar to the one we used in the previous section.

You can see that the equity difference is not as drastic here. Poker rake has a big impact on how you should play. You need to take it into account and adjust your strategy if you want to crush as much as possible. If you play online, you can repeat the process above to figure out how much rake should impact ranges in your games. Lookup the rake structure of the site you play on and plug in the numbers.

Online grinder aspiring to reach the highest stakes and crush the toughest games. I'm available for quick strategy questions and hourly coaching -- reach out to me at [email protected]. This is Dynamik Widget Area. What is Rake in Poker? What is Rake?