Common Online Poker Rake Fee Schedules

The poker rake is a small amount of money removed from the pot prior to being awarded to the winner. The rake is usually capped. Raked money pays for dealer’s wages, the facility, profit for the operator, and various other expenses to provide you with a place to play poker. For poker sites online this is how they make money.

How Much Does The Rake Cost At Poker Sites Online?

When playing cash games at online poker sites for real money a percentage of the pot is automatically deducted from the pot. When playing in tournaments you pay a buy in which is the rake. Poker sites have fewer expenses then casinos so they can afford to offer cheaper rake, which works to your favor if you’re an online poker player.

Note: Players that get rakeback at online poker sites pay 30% less on average than most players – that’s enough to turn a break even player into a winner.

Poker site rake fees vary from one to another on how much, and when money is removed from the pot. Choosing the place to play that best suits you is one of the easiest ways to improve your overall chances to win. Many players fail to adjust their playing strategy based on the rake, and are paying much more than they think.

Here are some popular rake schedules I have come across in my recent years at brick and mortar casinos and online poker websites. First I will cover a typical brick and mortar card room.

Rake is limited to $3 or $4 giving the players more opportunity to make bets after the rake has been capped. You are mostly dealing with a 10% poker rake, but the overall percentages end up lower than 10% because the total pot size can easily double, or even triple in size after the rake is capped. This is important to consider when choosing what stakes to play. It is a very rare pot that is triple the size it was when the last rake occurred at a $2-$4 limit Holdem table.
Since the rake schedule is generally the same regardless of the limit or number of players, consider playing the highest limit your skill and bankroll allows.

Next we have the online poker sites such as Full Tilt Poker and Poker Stars. Most online card rooms rake 5% for all limits excluding the micro limits, which is only half that of the brick and mortar casinos. Capped rake amounts are usually a low $3 and the player can take advantage of a wide variety of stakes to play.

The Full Tilt Poker and Poker Stars rake fee schedule is very similar. Here is an example of rake paid showing their $.50/$1 rake schedules.

# of Players Rake Per $ in Pot Max Rake 6 $0.05 $1.00 $3.00

The only time you will pay more then the 10% rake is playing the micro limits on Full Tilt Poker – learn more about Full Tilt Poker Rakeback to boost your bankroll.

If you are one of the many poker players who always seem to be down a little, or perhaps consistently a bit up, consider the poker rake and how easily you could effect your bankroll by choosing to play at a raked game that is slightly better than the one you play now. For many of us, this is the easiest way to make the biggest difference in our bottom line. Most poker players are also sport fans and i just came across a site with some solid reviews and offers for sports bettor. Check out best betting sites if you are looking for a site that covers everything you need to know about online sportsbetting.