What Is Poker Rakeback
If you've spent any time at all playing online poker, you've probably heard of something called Poker Rakeback. If so, you've come to this page with the common question, "What is Poker Rakeback?" If not, you're lucky you landed here because you will learn just what Poker Rakeback is, and why it is so important to have.
In order to explain Poker Rakeback, we first need to define Poker Rake.
Poker Rake
Since players compete against each other at online poker rooms, in contrast to online casinos where players compete against the house, the online poker room does not stand to make a profit.
Without bringing in any money, the online poker room would not be able to afford to operate or pay administration fees. Instead, they collect a Poker Rake.
The Poker Rake is a small percentage of the pot in cash games.
The industry standard poker rake is 5% of the pot, capped at $3 to $5 ($3 is most common). It is also standard for online poker rooms to invoke a "No Flop, No Drop" policy, which means that any hand that does not move on to the Flop (all players fold Pre-Flop) will not be raked.
Now to answer the all important question, what is Poker Rakeback...
Poker Rakeback
Poker Rakeback is when a player receives a percentage of their contributed rake back in their account. Each time you participate in a raked poker hand, your Rakeback amount will continue to build up until the end of the pay period, which can be one week, one month, or as soon as you accumulate a high enough amount.
Poker Rakeback programs can vary greatly depending on the 3rd Party site you sign up through and the poke room in question. We'll talk more about that in a moment, (see "How to get Poker Rakeback" below).
The average Poker Rakeback is 30%. So, for example, if you contribute $100 to rake in a month's time, you would receive $30 back in your account.
Why Do I Need Poker Rakeback
Honestly, there is no disadvantage to online Poker Rakeback. There is no penalty for not contrubting enough rake, or not collecting enough rakeback. Rakeback is simply a way to increase your profits by getting a little of your own money put right back into your pocket. Unless you're a stellar poker player who constantly earns massive amounts of cash playing poker, it would be foolish not to take advantage of online Poker Rakeback.
How to get Poker Rakeback
In order to earn an online Poker Rakeback, you'll need to sign up with the online poker room through the 3rd Party poker portal that offers Rakeback. Online poker rooms do not directly offer Poker Rakeback. Poker Affiliates, on the other hand, who regularly drive traffic from their site to online poker rooms, are offered deals from various online poker rooms. They are then able to present players with Poker Rakeback, so long as the player uses their links to join the online poker room.
There are various types of Poker Rakeback, some considered better than others, but each has its advantages for different types of poker players. In general, there are "Contributed" Rakeback Deals, "Shared" Rakeback Deals and "Dealt" Rakeback Deals. Contributed Rakeback means you get back a percentage of the amount you actually contributed to the rake. Shared Rakeback is when each player takes an even portion of the rake. Dealt Rakeback means that you will receive a shared portion of the rakeback so long as you were dealt cards in the hand. You can learn more about the different Poker Rakebacks and the advantages of each by visiting the following pages:
- Contributed Rakeback
- Shared Rakeback
- Dealt Rakeback
Some Rakeback deals also come with the ability to earn Rakeback in tournament play. Online poker tournaments don't actually collect a rake, but they do incur Tournament Fees. Fees are generally 10% of the buy-in amount. For example, a $100 buy-in may require a $10 fee. tournament Rakeback allows the player to receive a percentage of their paid tournament Fees in Rakeback, plus the usual ring game Rakeback.
