Poker Rakeback

The question of What is Rakeback? is often asked by newcomers to online poker and by casual online poker players. Players who are serious about playing poker online likely already understand what poker rakeback is because of how important rakeback is to their overall profit.

The answer to the What is Rakeback question? is simply a refund on the money the online poker room charges you to play poker. The online poker room takes a small percentage of money out of every hand that is played. This percentage of money taken covers the cost of their operations and it is known as the rake. During each hand of a cash game the online poker room takes about 5% up to a couple of dollars out of every pot that is played as their rake. Because each person at the table contributes to the rake by playing at that table the online poker rooms have started giving some of that rake back to the players. The process of giving back a percentage of the rake to the player is known as rakeback.

Wikipedia defines rakeback as a:

• "Rebate/repayment to a player of a portion of the rake paid by that player, normally from a non-cardroom, third-party source such as an affiliate. Rakeback is paid in many ways by online poker rooms, affiliates or brick and mortar rooms. Many use direct money payments for online poker play. Brick and Mortar rooms usually use rate cards to track and pay their rakeback."

Rakeback can be anywhere from 25% to 50% depending on the poker room but generally is around 30%. The amount of rake contributed by an individual player can be in the thousands per month for a regular player and hundreds per month for a casual player. Having a rakeback deal in place can mean hundreds or thousands of dollars being returned to you automatically each week. Rakeback can make a huge difference in the amount of money you earn playing online poker. Many losing poker players become break-even poker players after they figure in the money they have automatically returned to them as rakeback. Break even players become winners and winning poker players add even more profit to their poker bankroll when they receive rakeback.

Rake is taken from each cash game hand that is played and taken from tournaments in the form of the entry fee. The online poker room keeps track of the amount each player plays on their site and the amount of rake that player has contributed. If that player signed up to play at that online poker room by using an affiliate than that affiliate gets paid a commission based on the rake revenue generated by that player. Affiliates are given that commission by the online poker rooms because they have used their website to advertise that poker room and have referred that player. Affiliates have come up with the idea to return most of their commission back to the player. This refund to the player is called rakeback and benefits the player, the affiliate and the poker room. The benefits to everyone is because a player receiving rakeback is more likely to become a loyal player at that poker room and play on their site longer. The poker room is happy because the more the player plays the more rake is produced which makes the affiliate more commission and the player earns lots of money with rakeback.

Players that go straight to the poker room to sign up do not receive rakeback. A player can only receive rakeback by going through an affiliate. Therefore, it is always the best option for a player to use an affiliate to receive rakeback.

Understanding Rakeback

What is rakeback? is a common question asked by many casual online poker players and beginners. Most serious online poker players know exactly what is rakeback because rakeback is very important to their success.

The answer to the What is rakeback? question begins with understanding what is rake. The rake is how online poker rooms make money. During each hand of a cash game the online poker rooms take a small percentage of the pot, about 5% as their fee to host the game. This 5% is the rake and is usually capped at a maximum of $3 during any cash game poker hand. In poker tournaments, in addition to the buy-in the online poker rooms charge a relatively small entry fee to play. In tournaments this entry fee is the rake.

Rake to Rakeback

The online poker rooms keep track of the amount each player plays on their site and the amount of rake that player contributed. If a player signed up to play at that poker room through an affiliate like Rounder Poker than that affiliate gets a commission for referring that player from the online poker room. Affiliates are given this commission by the poker rooms because they advertise the poker room. Affiliates have in turn come up with the idea to return most of that commission back to the player.

This refund is known as rakeback. Rakeback is done by the affiliate in order to attract players to sign up through the affiliate instead of the player going directly to the poker room. Players going directly to the poker room do not get rakeback so it is advantageous to always use an affiliate to secure rakeback.

Rakeback Example

For example, a player decides to try a new poker room like Full Tilt Poker and signs up through the affiliate Rounder Poker in order to get 27% Rakeback. During the first week the player contributes $300 in rake to the online poker room. The poker room gives a 30% commission to the affiliate Rounder Poker for referring that player. 30% of $300 is $90. The player gets 27% rakeback so 27% of $300 is $81. At the end of the week the affiliate Rounder Poker gets paid $90 from the online poker room and automatically puts $81 into the players account.

Rakeback Helps Everyone

As you can see rakeback is a great way to supplement your poker earnings and can often add up to hundreds and thousands of dollars depending on the amount of poker you play. Often receiving rakeback can make a losing poker player into a small winner and make a break-even player into a big winner. Winning poker players win even more because of rakeback. In effect rakeback is like a bonus in that it pays you to play. But unlike a bonus, rakeback never runs out it just keeps paying you over and over again as long as you keep playing.