Rake (poker)
Encyclopedia
Rake is the scaled commission fee taken by a cardroom
operating a poker
game. It is generally 5 to 10 percent of the pot
in each poker hand, up to a predetermined maximum amount. There are also other non-percentage ways for a casino to take the rake. Some cardrooms will not take a percentage rake in any community card poker
game like Texas hold 'em
when a hand does not have a flop. This is called "no flop, no drop".
Poker is a player-versus-player game, and the house does not wager against its players (unlike blackjack
or roulette
), so this fee is the principal mechanism to generate revenues.
It is primarily levied by an establishment that supplies the necessary services for the game to take place. In online poker
it covers the various costs of operation such as support, software and personnel. In traditional brick and mortar casinos it is also used to cover the costs involved with providing a dealer
(though in many places tips provide the bulk of a dealer's income) for the game, support staff (from servers to supervisors), use of gaming equipment, and the physical building in which the game takes place.
To win when playing in poker games where the house takes a cut, a player must not only beat opponents, but also the financial drain of the rake.
Time rakes are generally reserved for higher limit games ($10-$20 and above).
s, also known as cash games. The rake for participation in poker tournaments is collected as an entrance fee. This may be displayed by showing the tournament buy-in as $100+$20, with the $20 being the house fee or "Vig"
.
websites have done away with the rake altogether. These "rake free" poker rooms generate revenue by increasing traffic to the company's other profitable businesses (such as a casino
or sportsbook
) or by charging monthly membership or deposit fees. Some sites are only completely rake-free for frequent players, while offering reduced rake instead for other customers.
sites or their affiliate
partners return part of the rake or tournament entries a player pays as an incentive for them to continue playing on that site.
Rakeback in cash games can be calculated using two different methods: dealt and contributed. The dealt method awards the same amount of rakeback to each player dealt into a hand, and the contributed method rewards players based on their actual contribution to the pot. In poker tournaments, rakeback is deducted from cardroom's entry fee. Rakeback is similar to comps
in "brick and mortar" casinos.
As online poker becomes more mainstream online poker professionals have begun using rakeback as a means of increasing profits or cutting their losses. Depending upon the stakes the player is playing, how many tables they are playing at once, and the number of hours played daily, online poker pros can earn thousands of dollars in rakeback every month. This gave rise to so-called rakeback pros, players using a less intensive losing strategy at many tables simultaneously while offsetting their losses through rakeback. The rakeback rate is also important as there is no industry standard rakeback percentage.
Not every online poker room offers rakeback. Sites such as Full Tilt Poker
, Cake Network and UltimateBet allow affiliates to offer rakeback as a direct percentage of rake and tournament entries paid back to the players. Other card rooms such as PokerStars
, PartyPoker, Ongame Network and the iPoker Network
forbid affiliates to give rakeback. Instead they offer in-house loyalty programs that gives cash and other rewards to players based upon how much they play.
Cardroom
A cardroom or card room is a gaming establishment that exclusively offers card games for play by the public. The term poker room is generally synonymous, since the gambling games played in such establishments are typically, and sometimes exclusively, variations of poker such as Texas hold 'em.Such...
operating a poker
Poker
Poker is a family of card games that share betting rules and usually hand rankings. Poker games differ in how the cards are dealt, how hands may be formed, whether the high or low hand wins the pot in a showdown , limits on bet sizes, and how many rounds of betting are allowed.In most modern poker...
game. It is generally 5 to 10 percent of the pot
Pot (poker)
The pot in poker refers to the sum of money that players wager during a single hand or game, according to the betting rules of the variant being played...
in each poker hand, up to a predetermined maximum amount. There are also other non-percentage ways for a casino to take the rake. Some cardrooms will not take a percentage rake in any community card poker
Community card poker
Community card poker refers to any game of poker that uses community cards , which are cards dealt face up in the center of the table and shared by all players. In these games, each player is dealt privately an incomplete hand , which are then combined with the community cards to make a complete...
game like Texas hold 'em
Texas hold 'em
Texas Hold 'em is a variation of the standard card game of poker. The game consists of two cards being dealt face down to each player and then five community cards being placed face-up by the dealer—a series of three then two additional single cards , with...
when a hand does not have a flop. This is called "no flop, no drop".
Poker is a player-versus-player game, and the house does not wager against its players (unlike blackjack
Blackjack
Blackjack, also known as Twenty-one or Vingt-et-un , is the most widely played casino banking game in the world...
or roulette
Roulette
Roulette is a casino game named after a French diminutive for little wheel. In the game, players may choose to place bets on either a single number or a range of numbers, the colors red or black, or whether the number is odd or even....
), so this fee is the principal mechanism to generate revenues.
It is primarily levied by an establishment that supplies the necessary services for the game to take place. In online poker
Online poker
Online poker is the game of poker played over the Internet. It has been partly responsible for a dramatic increase in the number of poker players worldwide...
it covers the various costs of operation such as support, software and personnel. In traditional brick and mortar casinos it is also used to cover the costs involved with providing a dealer
Poker dealer
A poker dealer distributes cards to players and manages the action at a poker table.-Professional dealers:Any casino with a poker room must hire a staff of dealers. Casinos generally pay dealers minimum wage. However, a dealer's primary source of income is not salary, but tips from players*...
(though in many places tips provide the bulk of a dealer's income) for the game, support staff (from servers to supervisors), use of gaming equipment, and the physical building in which the game takes place.
To win when playing in poker games where the house takes a cut, a player must not only beat opponents, but also the financial drain of the rake.
Pot rake
A percentage rake is taken directly from the pot. In a live casino, the dealer manually removes chips from the pot while the hand is being played and sets them aside to be dropped into a secure box after completion of the hand. When playing online, the rake is taken automatically by the game software. Some software shows the rake amount next to a graphical representation of the dealer and takes it incrementally between the rounds of betting, whereas other software programs wait until the entire hand is over and then takes it from the pot total before giving the rest to the winner of the hand. This is the prevalent method of collecting rake in online poker.Dead drop
The fee is placed on the dealer button each hand by the player in that position, and taken in by the dealer before any cards are dealt.Time collection
Time collection (also "timed rake" or "table charge") is a set fee collected (typically) every half hour during the game. This form of rake is collected in one of two ways:- Player time: A set amount is collected from each player.
- Time pot: A set amount is collected from the first pot over a certain amount.
Time rakes are generally reserved for higher limit games ($10-$20 and above).
Tournament fees
The above examples are used in ring gameRing game
Ring game may refer to:*Ring game , a general class of multi-player pocket billiards gambling games*Ring game, a.k.a. cash game, a poker game played with "real" chips and each player's own money at stake, as opposed to a poker tournament with a prize money pool...
s, also known as cash games. The rake for participation in poker tournaments is collected as an entrance fee. This may be displayed by showing the tournament buy-in as $100+$20, with the $20 being the house fee or "Vig"
Vigorish
Vigorish, or simply the vig, also known as juice or the take, is the amount charged by a bookmaker, or bookie, for his services. In the United States it also means the interest on a shark's loan. The term is Yiddish slang originating from the Russian word for winnings, выигрыш vyigrysh...
.
Subscription fees
Some online cardrooms charge a monthly subscription fee, and then do not rake individual pots or tournaments.Rake free
Some online pokerOnline poker
Online poker is the game of poker played over the Internet. It has been partly responsible for a dramatic increase in the number of poker players worldwide...
websites have done away with the rake altogether. These "rake free" poker rooms generate revenue by increasing traffic to the company's other profitable businesses (such as a casino
Online casino
Online casinos, also known as virtual casinos or Internet casinos, are online versions of traditional casinos. Online casinos enable gamblers to play and wager on casino games through the Internet....
or sportsbook
Sportsbook
In the United States a sportsbook or a race and sports book is a place where a gambler can wager on various sports competitions, including golf, football, basketball, baseball, hockey, soccer, horse racing, boxing, and mixed martial arts. The method of betting varies with the sport and the type of...
) or by charging monthly membership or deposit fees. Some sites are only completely rake-free for frequent players, while offering reduced rake instead for other customers.
Rakeback
Rakeback is a player rewards method that began in 2004, whereby some online pokerOnline poker
Online poker is the game of poker played over the Internet. It has been partly responsible for a dramatic increase in the number of poker players worldwide...
sites or their affiliate
Affiliate
An affiliate is a commercial entity with a relationship with a peer or a larger entity.- Corporate structure :A corporation may be referred to as an affiliate of another when it is related to it but not strictly controlled by it, as with a subsidiary relationship, or when it is desired to avoid...
partners return part of the rake or tournament entries a player pays as an incentive for them to continue playing on that site.
Rakeback in cash games can be calculated using two different methods: dealt and contributed. The dealt method awards the same amount of rakeback to each player dealt into a hand, and the contributed method rewards players based on their actual contribution to the pot. In poker tournaments, rakeback is deducted from cardroom's entry fee. Rakeback is similar to comps
Comps (casino)
In the context of casinos, comps are complimentary items given out by casinos to encourage players to gamble. The amount of comps that a player is given usually depends on what game they are playing, how much they are betting, and how long they have played. Most casinos have hosts who are...
in "brick and mortar" casinos.
As online poker becomes more mainstream online poker professionals have begun using rakeback as a means of increasing profits or cutting their losses. Depending upon the stakes the player is playing, how many tables they are playing at once, and the number of hours played daily, online poker pros can earn thousands of dollars in rakeback every month. This gave rise to so-called rakeback pros, players using a less intensive losing strategy at many tables simultaneously while offsetting their losses through rakeback. The rakeback rate is also important as there is no industry standard rakeback percentage.
Not every online poker room offers rakeback. Sites such as Full Tilt Poker
Full Tilt Poker
Full Tilt Poker is an online poker card room that opened in June 2004 with the involvement of poker professionals Howard Lederer, Phil Ivey, Andy Bloch, Mike Matusow, Jennifer Harman and Chris Ferguson...
, Cake Network and UltimateBet allow affiliates to offer rakeback as a direct percentage of rake and tournament entries paid back to the players. Other card rooms such as PokerStars
PokerStars
PokerStars is the largest online poker cardroom in the world. PokerStars' satellite tournaments produced the 2003 World Series of Poker champion, Chris Moneymaker. 1983 champion Tom McEvoy, 2005 champion Joe Hachem, 2009 champion Joe Cada and 2010 champion Jonathan Duhamel and others also represent...
, PartyPoker, Ongame Network and the iPoker Network
Playtech
Playtech Ltd. is a gaming software development company founded in 1999. The company provides software for online casinos, online poker rooms, online bingo games, online sports betting, scratch games, mobile gaming, live dealer games and fixed-odds arcade games online.-Playtech gaming software and...
forbid affiliates to give rakeback. Instead they offer in-house loyalty programs that gives cash and other rewards to players based upon how much they play.