Rakeback Definition
The definition of rakeback is the amount of a rebate that is passed from an online poker room to an affiliate that is then passed to the player.
The rakeback definition in easy to understand terms is that an online poker room pays an affiliate a commission for sending the customer to their poker room. The affiliate then pays the player most of that commission. For example, if you sign up at an online poker room through affiliates that offer rakeback then you will earn the rebate from that affiliate. The online poker room pays a commission to the affiliate for sending you to that online poker room. This commission varies depending on the poker room and can be anywhere from 20% to 50% of the rake you generate while playing poker at that poker room. The affiliate realizes that the more you play at that particular poker room the better for the affiliate as that increases the affiliate's commission. In addition to that, affiliates want you to choose to sign-up to play poker through them and not through some other affiliate. In order to both encourage you to sign-up to play through a particular affiliate and then to play more at that poker room the affiliate offers the player rakeback. The rakeback is the majority of the commission that the affiliate receives from the poker room. Every time an affiliate is paid commission from the online poker room the affiliate in turn pays the rakeback to the player. This rebate is why we define rakeback in the rakeback definition as the amount of money that is paid by the affiliate to the player based on the rake they generate while playing poker.
Rakeback Definition Example
The definition of rakeback is based on the rake being generated by a person receiving rakeback. If a player is at a 10 handed No Limit Texas Holdem table and the action has created a $60 pot the online poker room will rake the pot $3. Depending on how the rake is calculated for each player at the table using either the dealt rakeback method or the contributed rakeback method that $3 is going to be divided up amongst the players in the hand. To keep the rakeback definition simple in this example we are going to use the dealt rakeback method which basically says that everyone dealt into the hand gets credit for an equal share of the rake collected. So the $3 is divided up amongst the 10 people in the hand. $3/10 = $0.30 per player. So defining the amount of rakeback a player receives from that $0.30 of rake they just contributed to the poker room. If a player receives 33% rakeback based on his or her deal with the affiliate then out of that $0.30 the player gets 33% returned to them as rakeback. 33% of $0.30 is $0.10. So from the one hand that was played the player earned $0.10, which by itself is not a lot of money but adds up quickly when combined with more hands. In an hour, if that player is playing just one table and 100 similar hands were dealt in that hour then the player would earn about 100 * $0.10 = $10 in rakeback.
Wikipedia Rakeback Definition
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.
Poker Rakeback Basics
Poker rakeback is for rounders, a term for people that play poker regularly. Basically it is simply us paying you to play online poker and the more you play the more you earn.
To get started you need to choose one of the best rakeback poker rooms, follow the sign-up instructions and start playing. You can enter any of the many exciting tournaments and action filled cash games trying to build your bankroll. Every day whether you win at the poker tables or lose at the poker tables you will be getting paid to play. Test you skills in multi-table tournaments with huge prize pools and test your abilities on the cash tables and for every tournament you enter and every cash game you play you will be earning rakeback.
Earning Poker Rakeback
Optimizing your poker revenue begins with earning poker rakeback. Poker rakeback helps many players earn thousands of dollars every month playing online poker. Without rakeback you are essentially leaving hundreds and thousands of dollars on the table for no reason.
Rakeback Calculator
To approximately calculate the amount of rakeback you will earn you can use a rakeback calculator. The rakeback calculator figures out how much you pay in rake to the poker room and determines the amount you will earn in rakeback. The rakeback percentage is based on the percentage amount you signed up for when when choosing which poker room to play. Each poker room offers a different percentage of rakeback with some offering 27% rakeback and some offering 40% rakeback. The higher the rakeback percentage is the more rakeback you will earn.Rakeback Basics
Rakeback is like getting extra money for free. It is a huge mistake for beginners to go directly to a poker room and sign up at the poker room without first going through an affiliate that offers rakeback. Signing up for rakeback is easy and takes only a few minutes. By signing up for rakeback that player is going to earn money for playing where as they would not have earned any extra money for playing if they did not sign up for rakeback. The extra money that player earns from rakeback will automatically be put into the players account each week which can make a huge impact on the players bankroll.
Why Online Poker Rooms Have Rake
To understand rakeback you need to understand how online poker rooms make their money. Poker is not like other casino games because you are not playing against the house (casino). Instead, poker is played against other players and the only way the house (casino) can make money running the poker game is by raking the pot.
Raking the pot is essentially taking a small percentage - usually 5% - of each pot and keeping it for themselves. The 5% is the rake and it is automatically taken out of every cash game poker hand that is played. For tournaments the poker rooms charge an entry fee to each player and this entry fee is basically considered the rake for tournaments.
The rake pays for the online poker rooms operations and is necessary for the poker room to make a profit.
Why Poker Rooms Offer Rakeback
To help with attracting new players the poker rooms pay affiliates a commission on the rake they collect from the players the affiliate has sent to that poker room. To help attract new players affiliates have wisely began giving most of that commission back to the players in what is known as rakeback.
From Rake to Rakeback
During each hand you can usually see near the dealer the amount of rake that has been taken from the pot. This shows the total rake taken from the pot but does not show you the amount of your personal rake. The individual amount of rake each player contributes is figured out by the poker room's software and the information is stored in the poker room's database. This data determines the amount of rakeback you will earn.
Shared Rakeback vs. Contributed Rakeback
The rakeback a player earns is calculated in two different ways by online poker rooms. These two ways are known as shared and contributed.
Shared Rakeback Method
Shared Rakeback is easy to figure because it is basically the total amount of rake taken from the hand and divided equally amongst each player at the table. If there are 6 players at the table and $3 rake was taken from the pot then the shared rake is $3/6 = $0.50 per player.
Contributed Rakeback method
Contributed rake is a little bit more complex as the amount of money you contribute to the pot is what determines the amount of rake you paid. Each player is assigned an individual amount of rake they have contributed based on the amount of money they put into the pot. For example, if the pot has $60 in it and you have put in $20 to that pot then you have contributed to 1/3 of the pot. If the rake for the $60 pot is $3 then you have contributed 1/3 of the $3 so your contributed rake is $1. Players who did not contribute anything to the pot by folding before the flop have not contributed anything to the rake and therefore their rake contribution for that hand is $0.