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Rake Poker - What is a Rake in Poker?
Poker is a game where you compete against other players. Since the operators don't directly participate in the games, they need another way to make money from hosting them. This is where the poker rake comes in.
So, what is rake in poker, and how do you play rake poker? Here's everything you must know about poker rake.
What is a Rake in Poker?
If you're wondering what is rake in poker game, it is a small percentage of the pot that the poker game operator takes as its fee for hosting the game. It's usually a modest percentage, often capped at a certain amount. For example, the host might take $1 from every pot that reaches $20 or more in cash games.
This rake adds up over time and serves as the host's source of revenue from poker games. It helps cover the costs of running the games, such as equipment, technology, etc., while still allowing players to compete against each other for the pot winnings.
The poker rakeback for physical casinos and houses is higher than that of online poker platforms. One reason for this is the various expenses they must cover, such as paying the dealers and overhead costs of the building.
The rake system is also used at poker tournaments. There's a tournament fee that players must pay. The tournament fees are usually a small percentage of the total cost to enter and play tournaments.
Players who sign up for the tournament pay this tournament buy-in and their entry fee. It's like a contribution from each player to help make the poker tournament possible.
Different Types of Poker Rake
When it comes to an online poker room or a physical poker table, there are various types of rake poker rates that come into play.
Pot Rake
The pot rake is a fee charged by the online poker room or a poker dealer in poker cash games. It's a percentage of the total pot, usually taken once the hand reaches a certain point. In most cases, it is after the flop is dealt with.
Let's break it down with an example. Let's say you are playing a $1/$2 Texas Hold'em game. At showdown, the pot is $60. The poker host charges a 5% rake on cash game pots, with a maximum of $10.
This is how the casinos calculate. Here, they take 5% of the $60 pot, which equals $3. Since $3 is less than the maximum rake of $10, only $3 is taken from the pot.
However, there's a 'no flop, no rake' policy in some online poker sites and offline games. This means that if the hand doesn't progress to the flop stage, there's no pot rake collected even during the high-stakes games.
Dead Drop
In poker cash games, there's a system called a Dead Drop. Here, a player on the dealer button, which is the last position to act, pays a fixed fee or a predetermined maximum amount before the dealer deals any cards. This deaddrop fee helps generate revenue. It is used in both online and offline poker.
Fixed Fee
Fixed fee is a poker rake that came into existence because some players felt it was unfair that only winners had to pay the rake. A fixed fee is a cash game rake usually found in physical cardrooms during live games.
Here, every player at the table pays a small charge just for sitting down to play. This way, the poker host can still profit from the rake poker, even if many players lose. It's also fairer for players who win big, as they don't pay a hefty fee just because they won.
Tournament Fees
When you enter offline or online poker tournaments, the hosts collect a rake as a tournament fee. The fee depends on your chosen online poker sites or the physical poker rooms. However, it's always best to look for platforms with a low rake when you play to maximize your potential winnings.
Subscription Fees
Some poker rooms and even online platforms have monthly rake in poker in the form of subscription fees or loyalty programs. This takes care of their operating costs. Here, they also don't collect poker rake during tournaments or individual pots.
Time Collection
Also known as a timed rake, time rakes, or table charge, time collection is a set fee collected usually every half-hour in poker games to generate revenue. However, in some cases, they may collect the rake every hour instead of half-hour.
Now, this global poker rake can be collected in two ways. The first is the player time, which takes a set amount from each player. The second is the time pot, which takes a fee from the first pot over a certain size within a timeframe. This system to collect rake is mostly used in higher-limit games.
Rake Free
Some online poker rooms that host live games have eliminated the rake. Instead, they have freerolls with no entry fee and may even offer free prize money.
You also come across reduced-rake tournaments, where poker players pay a small portion of the fee. You will find several rake-free models. In fact, a few sites offer rake-free live cash games to frequent players as well and even come up with initiatives like poker rakeback.
Importance of The Rake in Poker Strategy
Now that you know what is a rake in poker, it may feel like any other rule when you play online or offline. However, this can also affect your gameplay. When the rake amount is removed from the pot size, the winner's winning amount reduces. Therefore, it is crucial to play cautiously, especially when the rake amount is high.
How Does Rake Work?
As mentioned earlier, raker poker is the fee taken by the casino or online poker room for hosting the game. It's basically like a service charge for providing the platform and dealing the cards. Rake is usually a small percentage of the pot size, often capped at a certain amount that's generally reserved. If you have ever played live cash games in card rooms, you may have noticed the dealer taking chips out of the pot and setting them aside in a secure box. That's the casino's rake. Many casinos do this.
For example, let's say you are playing a cash game of Texas Hold'em in a card room. The table has 6 players, and the blinds are $1/$2. You are involved in a hand where the pot has reached $100. When the hand concludes, the casino will take a rake, usually 5% of the pot, up to a maximum of $3.
So, if the rake is 5%, the house takes $5 from the $100 pot. However, since the maximum rake is $3, the casino will only take $3 from the pot. This leaves $97 for the players to divide amongst themselves. This is how the rake works. However, there are several types of rakes, as mentioned earlier.
What is Considered A Rake Hand?
If you play poker in a casino, you must have encountered the rake hand. This simply means the poker hand in which the casino takes a portion of the buy-in as a fee for hosting the game. So, any hand where there's a pot to be won will result in a rake being taken by the casino or any online platform. And, rake in poker is everywhere, whether it's a cash game or a tournament, both online and offline. However, the amount of rake taken depends on factors like the size of the pot and the casino's policies.
How is Rake Calculated?
There is no fixed way of collecting rake in poker. The most common method for cash games is to take a small percentage, usually around 2% to 5%, of the total pot, determined on a sliding scale. It's generally a predetermined maximum fixed amount. However, the rake is usually included in the buy-in fee in tournaments.
Some poker rooms may also use a time-based system where players are charged a fee for every half-hour or hour they play at the table. There's also a dead drop, fixed rake, etc. It depends on the type of rake. The figures are never the same amount. They vary from casino to game and even differ from game to game.
Rake Structure for Cash Games?
Keeping the standard 2% to 5% global poker rake, let's understand the poker rake in cash games of popular poker variants.
Rake: 5%
| Blinds | Rake % | Rake % (Heads Up) | Rake Cap (<=3 players) | Rake Cap (>3 players) |
| 0.5/1 | 5.00 | 5.00 | 20 | 25 |
| 1/2 | 5.00 | 5.00 | 25 | 30 |
| 2/5 | 5.00 | 5.00 | 50 | 60 |
| 5/10 | 5.00 | 5.00 | 100 | 150 |
| 10/25 | 5.00 | 5.00 | 250 | 300 |
| 25/50 | 5.00 | 5.00 | 375 | 450 |
| 50/100 | 5.00 | 5.00 | 500 | 600 |
| 100/200 | 5.00 | 5.00 | 625 | 750 |
| 250/500 | 5.00 | 5.00 | 750 | 875 |
| 500/1000 | 5.00 | 5.00 | 1500 | 1750 |
| 1000/2000 | 5.00 | 5.00 | 1750 | 2000 |
Texas Hold’Em
Rake: 5%
| Blinds | Rake % | Rake % (Heads Up) | Rake Cap (<=3 players) | Rake Cap (>3 players) |
| 0.5/1 | 5.00 | 5.00 | 20 | 25 |
| 1/2 | 5.00 | 5.00 | 25 | 30 |
| 2/5 | 5.00 | 5.00 | 50 | 60 |
| 5/10 | 5.00 | 5.00 | 100 | 150 |
| 10/25 | 5.00 | 5.00 | 250 | 300 |
| 25/50 | 5.00 | 5.00 | 375 | 450 |
| 50/100 | 5.00 | 5.00 | 500 | 600 |
| 100/200 | 5.00 | 5.00 | 625 | 750 |
| 250/500 | 5.00 | 5.00 | 750 | 875 |
| 500/1000 | 5.00 | 5.00 | 1500 | 1750 |
| 1000/2000 | 5.00 | 5.00 | 1750 | 2000 |
Omaha
Rake 4%
| Blinds | Rake % | Rake % (Heads Up) | Rake Cap (<=3 players) | Rake Cap (>3 players) |
| 0.5/1 | 4.00 | 4.00 | 16 | 20 |
| 1/2 | 4.00 | 4.00 | 20 | 24 |
| 2/5 | 4.00 | 4.00 | 40 | 48 |
| 5/10 | 4.00 | 4.00 | 80 | 120 |
| 10/25 | 4.00 | 4.00 | 200 | 240 |
| 25/50 | 4.00 | 4.00 | 300 | 360 |
| 50/100 | 4.00 | 4.00 | 400 | 480 |
| 100/200 | 4.00 | 4.00 | 500 | 600 |
| 250/500 | 4.00 | 4.00 | 600 | 700 |
| 500/1000 | 4.00 | 4.00 | 1200 | 1400 |
| 1000/2000 | 4.00 | 4.00 | 1400 | 1600 |
5-Card Poker
Rake 3%
| Blinds | Rake % | Rake % (Heads Up) | Rake Cap (<=3 players) | Rake Cap (>3 players) |
| 0.5/1 | 3.00 | 3.00 | 12 | 15 |
| 1/2 | 3.00 | 3.00 | 15 | 18 |
| 2/5 | 3.00 | 3.00 | 30 | 36 |
| 5/10 | 3.00 | 3.00 | 60 | 90 |
| 10/25 | 3.00 | 3.00 | 150 | 180 |
| 25/50 | 3.00 | 3.00 | 225 | 270 |
| 50/100 | 3.00 | 3.00 | 300 | 360 |
| 100/200 | 3.00 | 3.00 | 375 | 450 |
| 250/500 | 3.00 | 3.00 | 450 | 525 |
| 500/1000 | 3.00 | 3.00 | 900 | 1050 |
| 1000/2000 | 3.00 | 3.00 | 1050 | 1200 |
6 Card Poker
Rake 2%
| Blinds | Rake % | Rake % (Heads Up) | Rake Cap (<=3 players) | Rake Cap (>3 players) |
| 0.5/1 | 2.00 | 2.00 | 8 | 10 |
| 1/2 | 2.00 | 2.00 | 10 | 12 |
| 2/5 | 2.00 | 2.00 | 20 | 24 |
| 5/10 | 2.00 | 2.00 | 40 | 60 |
| 10/25 | 2.00 | 2.00 | 100 | 120 |
| 25/50 | 2.00 | 2.00 | 150 | 180 |
| 50/100 | 2.00 | 2.00 | 200 | 240 |
| 100/200 | 2.00 | 2.00 | 250 | 300 |
| 250/500 | 2.00 | 2.00 | 300 | 350 |
| 500/1000 | 2.00 | 2.00 | 600 | 700 |
| 1000/2000 | 2.00 | 2.00 | 700 | 800 |
All in and Fold
| Blinds | Rake % | Rake % (Heads Up) | Rake Cap (<=3 players) | Rake Cap (>3 players) |
| Any | 4.00 | 4.00 | - | - |
Rake in Poker Tournaments
Each tournament charges a set fee along with its entry cost, which varies. Players can see this fee in the tournament lobby or during registration. It's a standard charge for joining the tournament and necessary for fairness and transparency for all participants.
Sit & Go (SnG)
Each Sit 'n' Go (SnG) tournament incurs a fixed fee you must pay as per its buy-in. This may vary from game to game. Players can view this fee during SnG registration.
