The ‘rake’ is the fee you are charged by your poker room for playing at their site. The major poker sites take millions in rake every single day! Whether you play in cash games or tournaments, you will be paying it! While it mascarades as the "buy-in" for tournaments, in cash games it is taken from the pot incrementally after each round of betting so your less likely to notice or care... We all have to pay rake, but what exactly is it and how much are you paying?
Rake for cash or ‘ring’ game players…
In cash or ‘ring’ games, it is usually a percentage of the pot. For example, most poker
rooms will take 5% of each pot (up to $3) simply for hosting the game. They
take this out of almost every pot. So as you can imagine, after a couple of
hours they have already raked a substantial amount!
Sit down for just an hour at a regular low limit table where the average pot size is no
more than $5, win a just a few hands and you are likely to have paid at least
$1, if not $2 or $3 for the privilege. You do this along with everyone else at
the table. Go on a small winning streak and you can easily pay as much as $10
an hour to play your favourite game!
Play a higher limit table and you can see this multiply astronomically to $20, $50 or
even $100 every hour! In some poker rooms, the rake can be so high, that in the
long run it becomes almost impossible to win.
If you are a regular low limit cash game player, playing just a few hours a week, then you
can easily rack up $60-$70 a month and barely even realise it! If you play
medium or high limit tables and you are likely to be paying well over $200+
every month.
Rake for tournament players…
In both ‘sit & go’ and ‘multi-table’ tournaments, the ‘rake’ is usually part of the
‘buy-in’ fee. You will often see these fees written as “$10 + $1” or “$100 +
$9” where the ‘rake’ is clearly stated in addition to your tournament stake. Some
poker rooms state fee inclusive buy-ins. They charge the same level of rake,
but you will usually see these written “$11 (fee included)” or “$109 (fee
included). Either way, most poker rooms will take around 10% for hosting the
tournament. They take this off every single player and their charge will not form
part of the prize money offered.
Play just a couple of low limit tournaments a week and you could easily be paying around $30-$40 a month. Play a couple of medium or high limit tournaments and you are
likely to be paying well over $200+ every month.
Rake for those who play both…
If you regularly play both low limit cash games and tournaments, then you could be
paying as much as $100 month. If you are a medium or high limit player then you
could well be paying $300+ a month.
Rake for heavy users…
If you play more often than a few hours a week, perhaps every day or every other day, then you are probably paying double if not treble the above amounts!
Play more than one table at once and the situation gets even worse!
Calculate your rake...
Until now, you probably had little idea of how much you are paying to play your favourite game. It is no accident that the fees charged by most major poker sites are collected in such a stealth fashion. They benefit by keeping you in the dark! To help you open your eyes, we have created a "rake calculator" so you can estimate how much you paying every month. Simply click the button below to find out...
A new way to play...
Everyone
accepts that some kind of fee is necessary for a poker room to provide
it services, but should it be so high? Should it taken in such a
stealth
fashion? At pokerpotty, we believe you shouldn"t be paying anywhere
near these levels to play your favourite game! We believe in a simple
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