What is a Rake Race?

A rake race is a contest amongst players to see who can generate the most rake at a particular online poker site or poker network in a certain timeframe. To keep track of the rake race players are given points depending on either the number of raked hands a player plays or the total value of the rake from the poker hands a player has played. Rake race scoring is based on the rake collected from ring games and from tournament entry fees. Players are given points during the rake race and are placed on the leaderboard based on the number of points each player has earned. The rake race leaderboard is viewable online at the poker room hosting the rake race and/or the poker site hosting the rake race. Leaderboards for the rake race are updated daily or even hourly. Rake race prizes are normally cash prizes and can pay out to many players and not just the first place winner. The winner always receives the most from winning the rake race and this sum can be in the thousands depending on the specific rake race. The largest rake race in history was held by Ladbrokes who held a $1,000,000 rake race with first place paying $20,000. The Ladbrokes rake race lasted three months, but most rake race time frames are based on a calendar month.

Rake Race Details

Online poker rooms charge a fee for each hand you play during cash games and a fee for each tournament you enter. These fees are called rake.

To encourage players to play often, online poker rooms and entire poker networks create a competition amongst their regular players to see who can play the most raked hands during a certain period of time. The competition known as a rake race can be based on seeing who pays the most rake, who plays the most raked hands, or who collects the most frequent player points. The winner after the competition ends is rewarded with money that can be anywhere from less than a hundred dollars to several hundred dollars to several thousand dollars. Rake races normally start at midnight of the poker room's server time and prizes are paid out to winners within a few days following the end of the rake race.

There are three types of rake races:

• Rake Race which rewards the players who pay the most rake. Rake Races normally give an advantage to medium and high stakes players.
• Raked Hands Race which rewards the players who play in the most raked hands. Raked Hands Races normally give an advantage to low stakes players.
• Points Race which rewards the players who collect the most player points. Points Race player advantage depends on how the individual poker rooms distribute player points.