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The rake in the poker game holds enormous power over your long-term results: A high rake can leave you empty-handed, while a low rake can stack your profits quickly if you’re a winning player. It doesn’t matter if you play poker in a casino or on an online site; The poker rake is something players should consider when they are at the poker table.
Rake is essentially a fee taken by the house to cover overhead and operating costs. This is usually a fixed percentage of the pot, with a capped maximum figure that can be taken on a sliding scale from the pot directly.
We will try to help you understand what poker rake is and the mechanism of how it works here at Xgtiger Casino.
How Poker Rake Is Calculated
Some of the most common methods used by poker card rooms to attract online poker players include:
Pot Rake
Pot rake is a fee imposed on poker cash games. It is worth a percentage taken from the pots. Typically, poker card rooms take pot rake when a flop is dealt. This means no rake is taken pre-flop. Since this mechanism will be penalized in the case of a big pot, there is usually a maximum rake poker can get.
Imagine playing $1 or $2 Xgtiger Casino no limit games with $60 showdown pots. Suppose the house takes 5% rake with the maximum amount that can be taken as $10.
In this scenario, the casino will take $3. However, imagine if the pot was $600, with the same commission rate and upper limit. The commission will be up to $30, but only $10 will be taken.
This is why pot rake poker is so well-liked by players who play for low to medium stakes. Its popularity is why most online poker sites use this method.
It is worth noting that most online sites and poker card rooms now have a “no flop, no rake” M.O. This means that no charge is applied if the hand avoids getting a flop. This practice is also known as “no flop, no drop.”
Dead Drop Rake
Some brick-and-mortar online casinos charge a dead drop fee. Dead drop rake is a rake poker fee paid in poker card rooms where everyone pays the same thing. Usually, the winning player is stuck with the pot rake in cash games.
However, on dead drop, a set amount of rake is placed on the dealer button of the poker player currently in that position for each hand. This amount is collected by the dealer before any of the cards are dealt.
Timed Collection Rake
This fee is also known as “table charge” or “timed rake.” The timed collection rake is brought in as some poker cash players spend a lot of time playing poker in the online poker room or the casino.
For every time the dealer is active, the table is playing, and the players are dealing cards, the house takes a rake from the poker players. In some games, you pay this levy for every half hour played.
This fee ensures that the house will take a little something for each player involved during that time. They are quite popular among players who play for high stakes. This is because this poker fee is better for them than the higher rake from the pot that would otherwise be charged.
Fixed Fee Rake
This tax was created because of disgruntled winners in brick-and-mortar card rooms. They argue why the winner gets to rake in the full amount if nothing else.
A fixed entry fee is, therefore, a charge paid by each player at the table for sitting; you pay the chance to win the pot regardless of the outcome. It also helped the casinos because they could continue to get rake from the table even when there were many losing players.
Ultimately, a fairer environment is created, especially for the big winners who pay large amounts of rake when the big pots are in play.
Tournament Fees
Nothing is free in this world; the same is true for entering poker tournaments. It doesn’t matter if you play Xgtiger Casino, Kinggame, or PNXBETS; you need to be raked when joining live games. Tournament entry fees are a thing in both live card rooms and online poker rooms.
If you play online poker, you should know that tournament fees vary from different online sites. Whatever it is, the average poker rake is around 10-20%.
Look at it like this; if you join the Xgtiger Casino tournament worth $66 with a rake commission of 10%, the poker room keeps $6. $60 goes into the pool.
Most Sit ‘n Gos require a 7-10% cost charge. Short-handed turbo Sit ‘n Gos whose overall prize is a random jackpot requires a 5-8 percent pot rake levy.
No Rake Poker
It is common in many online poker rooms to see tournaments without a rake. A good example is Freerolls. This is a free-to-join poker tournament with no rake and little prize money added.
Some poker sites offer occasional rake-free tournaments where you just cover the buy-in. This strategy attracts prospective players and thus attracts and keeps them playing.
Larger legal poker rooms have a reduced-rake system in place. In this setup, players have to pay a small amount of rake. Several of these card rooms make up for it by offering a prize guarantee, with the possibility of an overlay.
The overlay is active when there are not enough players available to respond to the guarantee. Poker sites cover free real money remaining.
It is not unusual to find online sites that offer cash games without rake, even if we are talking about real money poker. Some brick-and-mortar rooms, however, may offer no-rake or low-rake sessions, especially if the tables are short-handed.
Poker Rakeback for Cash Games
Poker sites are sustained by charging players rake. Most poker sites make it possible to earn some of this rake with a site bonus in the spirit of fairness. All you have to do is join a poker rakeback program to get some of that rake back in cash.
Every time you play cash games or tournaments, you earn points. For example, you can earn 1 point per $1 of rake paid at the table. Usually, you have to actively contribute to the cash game pot to qualify.
Once you’ve accumulated the required points, you’ll start earning a fixed or progressive percentage of rakeback. Usually, cash is paid directly into your poker account. These promotions are offered on poker cash game rake as well as Multi-Table Tournament (MTT) and Sit ‘n Go fees.
Imagine contributing a rake of $100 to an open-ended Xgtiger Casino cash game. This translates directly into 100 points. These points can be redeemed for easy cash. Typical rates of around 20-30% give you a cash bonus of $20-$30 in rakeback.
Takeaway
All online sites and actual casinos and dedicated poker card rooms take a rake and/or some other fee. You’ll need to do your research to identify the sites and rooms with the lowest poker rates – start by checking out our poker site reviews here.
Your goal is to leave the table with as much money as possible after all. Furthermore, explore different loyalty programs that offer rakeback to find what works for you. Good luck at the tables!
Conclusion
Are you an avid gaming fan and wondering how to bet on online casino games? At Xgtiger Casino, you will get the latest information on this year’s best casino games and a variety of gaming options, all in one place.
To start your online gambling journey, all you need to do is create an account on the site, deposit funds and you will be ready to bet on the best and most anticipated casino games.