What is Poker Rake?
It may seem odd to some people seeing as how poker is a game where players play against each other and not against the house; yet, the poker rooms sure do not seem to be hurting for cash. In fact, they seem to be doing pretty well, pulling thousands upon thousands of dollars in on a regular basis. So, what gives? How do all of these online poker rooms make their money?
Well, it is quite simple actually. Before the winner of the pot rakes in his newly won chips, the house takes a cut, otherwise known as 'rake.' Now many of you are probably wondering how much the house actually takes but this answer isn't so clear-cut. The amount of rake taken is actually based on several factors such as the number of players involved in the hand, the game being played and at what stakes the games are being played at. Although we will go into more detail below, a quick and vague answer to that question is about 5% to 20% is taken out of the pot for rake.
Cash Game Rake
Rooms may vary slightly in how they calculate and take rake, but for the most part each room will be very similar. Most rooms will base the amount of rake they take on how many players are in the hand, the stakes, betting format and how much is in the pot. Most rooms will have a cap on how much can be taken at any one time with $3 to $5 being the most common.
For example,Full Tilt Poker takes $.01 for every $.15 that is in the pot up to a maximum of $.50 when two players are involved in a $.05/$.10 NLHE game. The maximum that can be taken changes when 4 players are involved in the hand, allowing Full Tilt to take up to $1 per hand.
On the other hand, in a fixed limit game of the same stakes, only $.01 will be taken for every $.20 in the pot with only two players involved up to a maximum of $.50 but up to $2 will be taken when there are 4 players involved in the hand. This is a big difference when compared to the numbers from a no limit game. But it should show how a difference such as betting format or number of players involved in a hand determines how much money is taken for the house.
Lastly, it should be noted that many sites are implementing a new policy in their cash games that is referred to as a 'no flop-no drop' policy. What this means for players is that anytime a hand is ended before a flop is seen, the house takes no cut.
Tournament/Sit n Go Rake
Tournament and sit n go rake is much easier to spot. In these games, the +$xx is generally the rake that is taken for the house. So for example, in a $5 + $.50 sit n go, the $.50 would be what the poker room collects in terms of 'rake.' Unlike cash games, this rake is only collected once and is collected once a player buys in.
The amount that is taken is generally determined on the dollar amount of the buy in. For example, most $1 sit n go's have a rake of about $.10 while the $5 games have a rake of about $.50. Once you are passed the $10 mark, most games will have a minimum of $1 taken for rake.
Lately, many rooms have been implementing different promotions in terms of the fees that are taken for their tournaments and SnGs. Many rooms have been resorting to a flat fee that is the same for the higher buy in games.Party Poker is an excellent example of this offering a $10 fee for all games above $200. This is quite a savings since many games around the $200 mark carry fees of $10 to $15 with that figure being as high as $200 at the highest stakes. This adds up quickly as the house rake ultimately affects a player's bottom line.
Poker Rake
So as you can probably figure, the poker rooms are definitely not in a pinch when it comes to money. They make plenty of it. In fact, with anywhere from 75,000 to 150,000 players trafficking the larger sites at any one time, it would be safe to say that making thousands of dollars on a regular basis is quite the understatement.
