THE 'RAKE'

Every time a hand of poker is played, the poker room takes an amount from the pot - the term for this is 'Rake'. Players don't compete against the house, but against each other, so the poker room makes its money from the rake and tournament fees. The amount taken varies from poker room to poker room as does the rake schedule. Typically it will be 10% of the pot in increments of $0.25 up to a maximum of $3. Some sites do not take rake if all players fold before the flop and most sites will reduce the rake if a game gets short-handed. Check with the poker room itself to be certain of their exact schedule and percentages.

RAKEBACK

Poker players are often aware of the term Rake but less often aware that they are able to get some of the rake back. Poker rooms offer incentives to players for creating a new account with them by offering Rakeback. This is essentially a percentage of the rake (explained above) given back to the player for the life of their poker acount. Typically this is between 20% and 30% for the average player. High volume players are often given more incentive to use a poker room by being offered higher Rakeback percentages. There are very few poker rooms that offer players Rakeback directly, instead it is brokered through Rakeback Affiliates who have the relationship with both the poker room and the players.

RAKEBACK PAYMENTS

Rakeback payments will generally be made to the player in one of two ways :-

Directly into the players poker account
By the affiliate using a common payment method such as Neteller or cheque

QUALIFYING CARD GAMES

Any card games that the poker room offers will contribute towards a players Rakeback total. You can play No Limit, Omaha, Stud, etc.

QUALIFYING FOR RAKEBACK

In general a player must open a new account with a poker room to qualify for Rakeback. The player can play on the same network but not generally with the same poker room.