What is ‘rakeback’?

While playing poker, every hand that goes to at least the flop has a ‘rake’ taken out of it. This is how casinos make money from poker games, and is usually fixed at 5% of the pot size with a maximum rake of $3 per hand. Many online poker sites are willing to give you back a percentage of the rake that you pay as an incentive to play at that site. This is called rakeback.

There are two methods that are used to calculate your rake contribution: dealt and contributed. With the dealt method, you receive an equal share of the rake no matter if you contribute to the pot at all. Say you are at a 10 person table and the pot is raked the maximum of $3. Each player will receive $.30 (1/10 of $3) towards their Monthly Gross Revenue (MGR). Typically you receive a payment once a month for the previous calendar month’s MGR. Say you receive an offer for 27% rakeback and play enough to have a $1,000 MGR. You would receive $270 the follow month in rakeback! Some sites pay rakeback weekly or allow you to request a payment at any time.

The contributed rakeback method awards your MGR with a percentage of the rake based on the rake taken from the hand and the number of players that contributed to the pot. For example, if you are the button in a 6 handed game and play a $100 pot with the big blind that ends with $3 being raked by the poker room, you would receive $1 credited towards your MGR. The $3 in rake is evenly divided amongst the three players that put money in to the pot, yourself, the small blind (even if your contribution is as small as the small blind, it still counts) and the big blind each receiving $1 in MGR.

Your MGR is not based only on your rake contributions. Quite often sites will deduct any bonuses you receive as well as any fees from deposits. Using reward points that you earn at the site may also impact your MGR. If you believe that your MGR is not as high as you expected, check to see if there are any deductions that might have been taken.

Rakeback is essential when you are first starting out as a poker player. It will allow you to grow your bankroll much faster and can act as a cushion for the months where you aren’t winning. Even if you are a winning player, if you are putting in a high volume each month you can easily earn hundreds of extra dollars for no extra effort. Sign up for any of the sites on PocketFives and start earning rakeback today!