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How Does Rakeback Work In Poker?

A lot of experienced poker players hear the word rakeback and think, “Rake-what?” For many players, rakeback is still relatively unknown. If you have never heard of rakeback you may not yet realize how much you are losing on each pot due to the rake. Think that you are getting the full amount of every pot won? Think again.

The way rakeback works is pretty simple. For each pot in poker, the house takes a portion of the winnings—called the rake. Rakeback is a percentage of the rake that goes back to the player. A higher rakeback percentage means you get more of your net rake returned to you. Most rakeback offers will be in the 25 to 35 percent range, but you can also find rakeback deals as high as 60 percent. Poker players have been known to save thousands of dollars on rakeback alone. You can find rakeback deals from many established poker sites, including Full Tilt Poker rakeback, Mansion Poker rakeback, PayNoRake Bonus Code and Sun Poker rakeback.

If it seems unfair that poker rooms take a percentage of your winnings, keep in mind that rake is one of the poker room's primary source of income. If they didn’t take money via the rake, they could potentially go under due to all the money paid out. Consider the rake a fee you pay for playing at the casino—somewhat like the interest rate you pay on a credit card. The interest rate is your fee for the privilege of buying on credit. Rake is a fee for the privilege of gambling online. That being said, you want to keep your interest rates low and your rakeback percentage high.

Often, poker players are mostly interested in payout percentages and sign-up bonuses. Obviously, these are highly important as well, but you also need to factor in rakeback. Most of the time, you won't be able to sign up for a particular's site's rakeback, deal if you already have an account open with that same site. The same is true for initial deposit bonuses. If you've already gotten your first-time bonus, you can’t get a new sign-up bonus six months down the line. It’s important to find a poker room that offers a good mix of bonuses and a solid rakeback plan.