Shared Rakeback is one of several poker rakeback online deals.
Shard Poker Rakeback Online is basically a mix of contributed Rakeback and Dealt Rakeback, sharing properties with both programs.

If you know anything about poker rakeback online, you should already understand that Poker Rakeback comes from raked ring games.
When a player contributes to the rake, they are awarded a percentage of their contributed rake in Poker Rakeback.

Based on this concept, Shared Rakeback requires the player to contribute at least one chip to a raked poker pot in order to be eligible for Poker Rakeback Online.
In essence, they must participate in the hand – being dealt cards and folding is not enough.
However, the amount contributed has nothing to do with their actual Poker Rakeback earnings.

Shared Poker Rakeback takes the total rake, divides it among all participating players, and then pays a Rakeback percentage based on the average rake amount.
The average Shared Poker Rakeback Online deal pays 30%.

Shared Rakeback Example

To better explain the process of Shared Poker Rakeback Online, and calculating it, we’ll use a typical example hand.
For this hand, we’ll assume you’re playing $2/$4 NL Texas Hold’em at a short-handed table of 6 players.

Let’s say you’re in the Small Blind position, forced to post $2.
You receive your cards and find nothing but junk, such as 2-9 off-suit.
You fold.
Because you placed $2 in the pot, your are still considered a contributor.

The hand continues on with 3 other participants, including the Big Blind.
The hand ends with a $60 pot.

The standard rake taken at an online poker room is 5% up to $3 max, so if we divide the $60 pot by 5%, we get a rake of $3.

$60 / 5% = $3

We also had 4 participating players, so we divide the $3 rake by 4 for an average contributed rake of $0.75.

$3 / 4 = $0.75

As we mentioned, the average Shared Poker Rakeback Online deal pays 30%, so the final step is to divide the average contributed rake of $0.75 by 30%.
Doing so, we get a Shared Rakeback profit of about $0.23.

0.75 / 30% = 0.225

The problem with this hand is that, while you’ve earned about $0.23 in shared Poker Rakeback, you still end with a loss of about $1.77, as your $2 Small Blind is forfeited by having folded.
Then again, this shouldn’t be seen as a loss, but rather a decrease in expected losses.

A poker player cannot expect to win every hand, and the correct move was, in fact, to fold. But instead of losing $2, you lose only $1.77. Rakeback is a great way to cut your losses on hands that you would typically fold anyway.

Shared Rakeback also serves to increase your profits on the hands you do win. What if you had been dealt A-K suited and gone on to win the hand? You would have $60 (minus your own contribution to the pot) in hand winnings, plus the $0.23 Shared Rakeback profits.

Like any decent poker strategy, Shared Rakeback is another way to accomplish the ultimate goal – decrease losses and maximize profits.

Shared Rakeback Strategy

For more information on shared Rakeback strategies, and what player type benefits the most from Shared Rakeback, please read our important follow-up article:

By applying a solid shared Poker Rakeback Online strategy, an online poker player can extend their typical Rakeback profits from mediocre to monumental.
The effectiveness and a shared Rakeback strategy has a lot to do with the type of poker player you are.
In this article, we will define what type of poker player needs Shared Poker Rakeback Online, and how they can use their current poker strategy to increase Poker Rakeback profits.

Player Types That Need Shared Rakeback

There is only one general type of poker player that stands to benefit the most from a shared Rakeback program, and that is a loose/passive poker player.
Shared Poker Rakeback pays players based on their participation in the hand, meaning they must submit at least one chip to a raked pot, but the amount contributed has no affect on the Poker Rakeback profits themselves.

As a loose poker player, you are more likely to drop some chips into the pot in hopes of seeing the Flop.
Loose players hate to fold without seeing the flop, so long as it’s not too expensive to to do.

Passive poker players are especially keen on the idea of conserving chips.
A loose/passive player will have a strong desire to see the flop, but only if the risk is minimal.
This type of poker player will not place a large bet unless they are sure they have the hand won, or if they are attempting a bluff – a rare action by loose/passive poker players (but then again, that’s what makes bluffing so potentially successful for them).

If your poker strategy fits the standard requirements of a loose/passive poker player, you should definitely be taking advantage of Shared Poker Rakeback Online.

Shared Rakeback Strategy

To make the most of a Shared Poker Rakeback Online deal, you need to be participating in a lot of pots, but only with a minimal investment most of the time.
The chips you toss into the pot on losing hands should be less than the average contribution.
For example, if 4 players contribute and the total pot ends at $60, your contribution should be less than $15; the average contribution ($60 pot / 4 players = $15 avg.)

The way Shared Poker Rakeback is paid is based on this average contribution amount.
Let’s say the $60 pot is raked at the industry standard 5% up to $3 max.
A $60 pot / 5% = $3 raked.
The $3 rake would then be divided by the 4 participating players, resulting in an average rake contribution of $0.75.
Your Shared Rakeback percentage is paid based on this $0.75 average contributed rake.

If you’re earning 30% Shared Rakeback, you would earn about $0.23 in Shared Poker Rakeback.
0.75 / 30% = 0.225

By this veritable example, you could easily be earning $22.50 in Shared Rakeback for every 100 hands you participate in.
Let’s say you participate in about 50% of the hands you are dealt in, and it takes about 1-1/1 hours to play 100 hands.
This means you would be earning an average of $22.50 in Shared Poker Rakeback every 3 hours.

One very important and simplistically obvious aspect of a Shared Rakeback strategy is that you will, of course, need to win some hands here and there.
Otherwise, your Poker Rakeback profits will simply become a way to decrease expected losses.
We want to end with an overall profit here when combining Rakeback and poker winnings.
In order for that to happen, you need to use a strong loose/passive poker strategy.

As a loose player, you will become a target – tight players generally love to compete against loose players because they know, when the right cards fall, they should be able to swipe their slowly depleted chip stack back from you, and then some.
However, as a passive bettor, you can prevent this from happening simply by paying close attention.

When a tight player shows too much confidence, take it seriously and back down.
Tight players are known to bluff on rare occasion, just like loose/passive players, but more often then not, if they are investing in the pot, they mean business.
Tight players don’t go for broke on a draw hand, so if they’re betting, neither should you.
Never contend with a high-betting tight player unless you already have a monster hand to back it up.

When you’re in a good position to do so, try to steal the blinds.
If your competitors are moderately experienced poker players, you are known for your passive nature by now.
Placing a large bet out of the blue should cause all others to bow down, giving you the early pot.
Make sure there are no tight players betting before you.
Being in late position is recommended as you get to read all other opponents before making such a bold move.

If you can combine these tactics with a Shared Poker Rakeback Online strategy, you should be multiplying your overall profits exponentially. Good luck!