In the world of online poker, there are a multitude of promotions players can take advantage of, most of which you would never find in a live poker setting. One such benefit is the ability to sign up for rakeback deals.
In the world of live poker, rakeback is a lot like what prop poker players do. Those players however get paid by the hour, whereas rakeback players earn their rake back from the poker room
At sites like Full Tilt Poker, where the rake returned is a portion of what everyone paid into the pot, regardless of whether or not the player personally contributed to the pot, rakeback can really add up.
Rakeback is a special promotion presented by third-party poker sites, not the actual online poker rooms that members play at. This is because online poker sites aren't so willing to give up their rake profits to every player that comes along, but will make special offers to the third party sites that bring in a significant amount of new player traffic; thus making it worth the poker site's marginal loss to pay rakeback.
Poker Rakeback
Full Tilt defines rakeback as a player receiving a portion (27%) of the money they or their table mates contribute to the poker rake back into their bankroll. To understand rakeback, one must first understand the poker rake.
The Poker Rake
Every online poker room collects a rake - a small percentage of a real money pot - generally right around 5%. It's like the commission that sports bookmakers take. Poker is not a profitable business for the proprietor because there is no "house" competing. It's player versus players. To make a profit, the online poker site takes a rake.
The rake taken at Full Tilt varies depending on the game, and stake being played. The following table shows the exact rake amount for fixed, pot and no-limit poker games. |