About Rakeback

What is Rakeback?

Poker rooms get paid by removing a small amount of so-called rake from every pot. It’s a relatively small fee, usually set at 5% with a cap when it reaches $3 or $4, but when you play for longer periods, the small amounts add up and if you play a lot you could be paying considerable amounts of rake to the poker room each month.

Rakeback is exactly what it sounds like – a percentage of the rake you pay while playing poker is paid back to you. Online poker rooms do not advertise rakeback – to get it, you need to sign up through a third-party affiliate. Rakeback affiliates are paid a commission on the rake you generate at a certain poker room, which they in turn pass on to you minus a small fee.

The rakeback site may give you back 20 percent, 30 percent or more depending on where you get your rakeback.

What is the calculation method for rakeback?

Different websites have different ways of calculating how much rake you have paid for purposes of rakeback. The rakeback method can potentially affect you financially, and you should know the method used. While you may be considering taking advantage of rakeback offers, you may not be sure just how they will benefit you. The benefits of a sign-up bonus are clear, whereas the benefits of rakeback can be confusing.

There is usually a a Rakeback Calculator on the rakeback affiliate site to help you. However, things may still be unclear if you do not understand how rakeback is calculated.

Calculating Individual Rake

One common way to calculate individual rake is by simply apportioning the rake credit equally among all players. This is the dealt rake method.

If you join the hand, you receive credit for the same amount of rake as everyone else in the hand. If you are sitting at the table but have not yet posted your blind, or have missed your blind, you will not get rake credit for the hand.

Why the Dealt Rake Method Works

Some players may feel that those who folds before the flop should not get as much rake credit as one who plays a hand to the end. However, it helps to think of poker as you might think of investing.

A poker player invests money in pots in the hopes of getting a big return. When the return is larger than the investment, the player comes out ahead.

Players who play more hands invest more to try to get that return, but that return diminishes by the rake, no matter how much you invest. A rake calculation that gives more rake credit to looser players would unfairly penalize those trying to reduce their investment in the same return.

The Contributed Rake Method for Rakeback

One way to calculate the rake is through the contributed rake method. As the name suggests, this method gives the player rake credit depending on how much he contributes to the pot. This is a pure percentage calculation.

If a player contributes 25 percent to a pot, he paid 25 percent of the hand’s total rake. For example, if a player is involved in an $80 pot, the rake may be $4.

Let’s say the player put in $20 for this pot. Since that is 25 percent of $80, the player paid 25 percent of $4 in rake, or $1. This is true regardless of who wins the pot.

Idea Behind the Contributed Rake Method

The design of the rake method is such that players involved in more pots get credit for more rake. Almost every player at the table is involved to some extent. However, the contributed rake method prevents those who risk less money from getting as much credit as those risking large portions of their bankroll.

Finding the Contributed Rake Method

When you go to the rakeback site of your choice, there will be information on whether or not any of the rakeback promotions you sign up for uses the contributed rake method. If it does not and you prefer this method, go to another site or a different rakeback program.