Poker Rakeback Tips and Strategies

Once you have signed up to your chosen online poker room and have a rakeback deal in place it is worth knowing a few tips on how to maximize your rake back return. Here are a few tips compiled by the team at rakebackpoker to give you a bit of a head start when playing cash games. There are cash game tips in total but please check out our full poker rakeback tips and strategy articles.

5 Tips to make you a better cash game player

Cash games, also known as ring games, is where players bring real money to the table and are defined by the fact that the game has “no pre-determined end time”. Players may come and go as they please and bring more funds from their bankroll to the table if they need to. The great thing about cash games is that your potential winnings are only capped by the amount of money that all the players have at the table. Even at very small No Limit stakes, single pots of $100+ can be won. Cash games are riskier than tournaments and if you play too loosely or are very unlucky, you are likely to lose more than you would in tournaments.

Cash games are played for “table stakes”. On Betfair Poker, players can play from as little at 5cents/10cents blinds right up to huge stakes such as $1,000/$2,000. These blind levels do not increase as they do in tournaments and this is one of the reasons why cash games require different basic poker strategy.

1. Look out for the Loose Players

If you are playing at poker rooms like Cake or Interpoker then it is likely that you will be playing with some very loose players. This is great because they both calculate rake with a contributed method so you will earn more rakeback playing cash games. One sign of a loose player is if they post their blinds too quickly, it shows they are careless with their money and are willing to gamble. If you are a solid tight player and wait for the optimum time against a loose player they will gamble big usually resulting in a big win for you.

2. Pick your Tables

When choosing a cash game online, look at the players at the table spot the regulars and stay away from that table. At most Rakeback Poker Rooms you will have a variety of tables to chose from and are able to view whose playing, how much money they have, how many flops per hour and the average pot. When you see a table that has a high Average Pot it usually means it’s a loose table a lot of money is being tossed around. This little tip offers an extra edge in your profit per hour.

3. Table Hop

Use online poker to your advantage and don’t be scared to hop around and find the juiciest table. If the game isn’t good, the table is too tight, too many good players then leave. You should table hop find the best game and then glue yourself to the seat. This is also the case for if you are losing, don’t be stuck to your chair if you’re down – try another table. To be a consistent winning poker player you need to look for all the little edges around you, and use them to your advantage.

4. Use the power of bankroll in No Limit Cash Games

No Limit Cash Games give you the option to buy in for a minimum or maximum amount. Choose a table that has a lot of minimum buy in as this is often an indication of loose or low confidence players. A tip from regular professional poker players is to buy in for the maximum at a no limit cash game. A bigger bankroll is intimidating to a lot of players and can often give the first impression to new players to the table that he is a good player. Plus you always want to have enough money in your bankroll to cover anyone at the table.

5. Know when to walk away

Every poker player in the world loses, that’s a part of the game and if you’re able to leave a game with a loss without even hesitating then you’ll end up winning a lot more in the long run. The natural thinking of the brain is to stay and get your money back; it takes a lot of discipline and skill to know when to leave a game. Once your able to conquer this inner psychological trait that every human being posses, then you are a good player.

What is Rake or Rakeback in Poker

What is rake?

Rake is the money taken out of the pot by the house. Depending on the limit it can be from $.05-$3.00.

What is rakeback or rake back?

Rakeback is a percent of the rake paid back to you for playing at a poker site. Serious players earn thousands of dollars a month just in rakeback. When you sign-up for a rakeback deal via RRR your rakeback money is usually paid automatically by the poker room directly to your poker account. However, sometimes your rakeback money will be paid to your Neteller account.

What is a rakeback affiliate?

A rakeback affiliate such as RRR is a site that helps promote online poker rooms. In return we are paid a percent of the rake collected from poker players that sign up via us. Each month we pass on the vast majority of our cut from poker rooms to our players.

I am already signed up at a room, can I get rake back there?

No. You can, however, on some networks switch skins and play on the same network.

What is a skin?

A skin is a group of poker rooms that share are on the same poker network. For example Cryptologic skins would include InterPoker and Sun Poker and a handful other rooms. Players at all of these rooms play in the same games. Most networks will allow you to sign up under all skins regardless of the number of rooms on the network you are already signed up for.

How does the poker room come up with my rake amount?

The rooms use a formula called Monthly Gross Revenue (MGR) a ka net rake. This is the amount from which your rakeback is calculated, i.e. if your rakeback percentage is 30 and your MGR is $1,000 you would get $300 in rakeback.

To calculate your MGR some rooms subtract any bonuses earned during the month, while others don’t. The same goes for whether or not tournament fees are included in MGR. Rooms also have different methods for calculating your share of the actual rake. Some poker rooms use what is called contributed rake where you must participate in the pot to have rake credited. Others use the dealt method where you are credited with rake in every hand where you’re dealt cards.Read more about how a certain poker room calculates rake by visiting its page here on RRR.

Will I get a sign-up bonus when I sign up for a rakeback deal?

In most cases yes. Read more about a certain poker room’s sign-up bonus by visiting its page here on RRR. Please note that in some cases this bonus will be subtracted from your net rake.

Can my spouse, parent, brother, sister, roommate or anyone else that shares my computer have an account at the same poker room as me?

Usually, but they will need to get their own funding source for their account. You usually can not share Neteller or Firepay accounts with them. You may however transfer them money at most poker rooms. Signing up underage people, pets, appliances, lawn gnomes or some other figment of your imagination just to get a rakeback deal is fraud. You risk the poker room asking for ID and then having your account frozen and funds confiscated. It will also be hard to fund this account as it is not possible to get Neteller accounts for these fantasies.

I am looking for rake back at Party Poker or Poker Stars, why can’t I find one?

These two rooms do not currently support rakeback. Other poker rooms that do not offer rakeback include Pacific Poker and Paradise Poker. Should any of this change we will quick to provide you with rakeback deals from these poker rooms.

The Basics of Poker Rake Back

Getting rakeback has become one of the most contested issues in online poker recently.

Player Caution:  Many online poker rooms do not offer rake back and do not allow their affiliates to offer it.  Regardless,  there are many affiliates offering players deals that conflict with the terms of their agreements with their poker rooms.  A player signing up with such a rogue affiliate risks having his account closed and winnings forfeited.  It is on the shoulders of players to find out whether the poker room they’re joining allows it or not.  For example, some poker sites allow some rake back agreements;  others expressly forbids them.

Conventional poker wisdom says that the best players are the ones who win all the money.  For the most part that’s true,  but it isn’t only because of those players’ skill.  Anyone who believes it is has forgotten to figure in the biggest hidden cost in poker:  the rake.  The rake prevents poker from being a zero-sum game  –  one in which the winners all win and the losers all lose.  That set percentage of each pot being taken off the table means that decent players can go through long stretches making little or no money even if they win a few pots here and there.  In low-limit games,  the rake can be high enough in comparison to the stakes to make the game almost unbeatable over the long term.  This is one reason that much of the poker advice available to newcomers idealistically tells them to build up a bankroll quickly and get out of low-limit games ASAP.  In the real world that isn’t always possible,  leaving some players resigned to playing in the low limits much longer than they would like.  Luckily for these grinders there’s another option:  rakeback.M

It’s no overstatement to say that rakeback is one of the greatest creations of the online poker boom.  In essence,  it’s a deal between you and the house to recover a portion of the rake you pay and return it to your bankroll.  Rake back deals are possible with online poker rooms because the costs of running such rooms are dramatically lower than running a brick-and-mortar poker room.  These rooms still take a rake like a B&M casino would,  but they can afford to pay some of it back in exchange for player loyalty without losing any of their profit margin.  While a handful of small online card rooms pay rakeback directly to players,  the majority of rakeback deals are done through sites affiliated with card rooms.

To get a rakeback deal,  you must sign up for a new player account at a participating poker room by clicking through a link from the affiliate site  (an affiliate who offers rakeback).  This means that if you already have an account with Absolute Poker,  for instance,  you cannot get a rakeback deal there through any affiliate site.  Once you’ve signed up through the affiliate site’s link,  the poker room tracks your play and pays back a certain percentage of the rake you generate to the affiliate.  Then,  according to the terms of the rakeback deal you agreed to when signing up for your account,  the affiliate returns part of that money to you.  If that sounds complicated,  just think of it like your money is taking a roundtrip flight to Las Vegas and has to connect at another airport before it returns home.

High-limit players can certainly benefit,  but it’s the low-limit players who have the most to gain from rakeback.  Consider that most online poker rooms take a rake of 5% up to a maximum amount,  usually around $3-4.  If a $2/$4 limit holdem player wins an $80 pot,  he’s actually paying the house a full 5% of his winnings.  If a $100/$200 limit holdem player wins a $2000 pot,  he’s paying the house less than 1% of his winnings.  The low-limit player’s rakeback can be the difference between being a break-even player and a winning player;  the high-limit player’s rakeback is more likely to simply provide spending cash.  If you’re trying to build a bankroll by playing anything below $5/$10,  it’s to your advantage to find a rakeback deal.

The percentage of rake that is returned to you when you sign up for a deal varies greatly.  Some sites’ rakeback deals return as little as 20% to your account.  While that’s better than nothing,  it also pales in comparison to the 35% rates offered at some other sites.  This means that it pays to shop around before signing up for a rakeback deal.  Luckily there are many more rakeback affiliate sites than there are actual card rooms,  so you really can take your time and find a valuable deal before committing yourself to a particular deal.  One unfortunate consequence of having so many affiliates to choose from,  however,  is that the possibility exists of signing up with a less-than-reputable site that will disappear with your money.  For this reason it is extremely important that you do your research.  Most reputable rakeback affiliates have detailed websites with a wealth of information describing what poker rooms they deal with and how they pay you.  Many of them will also have forums where their users can discuss topics relating to poker:  And the presence of these forums is a good sign that you’re dealing with an affiliate who will hold true to his word.

While getting a rakeback deal is great in and of itself,  extracting maximum value from it requires effort on your part.  First off,  you should only sign up for a rakeback deal at a card room that you know has features you want.  If you only play $10-$20 limit holdem and the card room you sign up for only offers limits up to $5-$10,  you’re not going to want to play at the room often and thus will miss out on a lot of value.  It is also worth noting that rakeback almost always applies only to cash games  –  deals that will also return a portion of your tournament entry fees to you are few and far between,  so if you mostly play tournaments you’re going to have to add cash games to your repertoire if you want to get value from a rakeback deal.  Finally,  keep in mind that the more you play,  the more they pay.  Racking up a big rebate from your favorite card room means racking up a lot of hours at the tables.  If you aren’t prepared to play a lot of poker,  you won’t see big returns from your rakeback.  Still,  anything you get back from the card room is money that you would’ve kissed goodbye otherwise,  so you’re looking at a true bonus no matter how little the amount.~~

Poker Rakeback FAQ

What is rake?

Rake is the money taken out of the pot by the house. Depending on the limit it can be from $.05-$3.00.

What is rakeback or rake back?

Rakeback is a percent of the rake paid back to you for playing at a poker site. Serious players earn thousands of dollars a month just in rakeback. When you sign-up for a rakeback deal via RRR your rakeback money is usually paid automatically by the poker room directly to your poker account. However, sometimes your rakeback money will be paid to your Neteller account.

What is a rakeback affiliate?

A rakeback affiliate such as RRR is a site that helps promote online poker rooms. In return we are paid a percent of the rake collected from poker players that sign up via us. Each month we pass on the vast majority of our cut from poker rooms to our players.
I am already signed up at a room, can I get rake back there?

No. You can, however, on some networks switch skins and play on the same network.

What is a skin?

A skin is a group of poker rooms that share are on the same poker network. For example Cryptologic skins would include InterPoker and Sun Poker and a handful other rooms. Players at all of these rooms play in the same games. Most networks will allow you to sign up under all skins regardless of the number of rooms on the network you are already signed up for.

How does the poker room come up with my rake amount?

The rooms use a formula called Monthly Gross Revenue (MGR) a ka net rake. This is the amount from which your rakeback is calculated, i.e. if your rakeback percentage is 30 and your MGR is $1,000 you would get $300 in rakeback.

To calculate your MGR some rooms subtract any bonuses earned during the month, while others don’t. The same goes for whether or not tournament fees are included in MGR. Rooms also have different methods for calculating your share of the actual rake. Some poker rooms use what is called contributed rake where you must participate in the pot to have rake credited. Others use the dealt method where you are credited with rake in every hand where you’re dealt cards.

Read more about how a certain poker room calculates rake by visiting its page here on RRR.

Will I get a sign-up bonus when I sign up for a rakeback deal?

In most cases yes. Read more about a certain poker room’s sign-up bonus by visiting its page here on RRR. Please note that in some cases this bonus will be subtracted from your net rake.

Can my spouse, parent, brother, sister, roommate or anyone else that shares my computer have an account at the same poker room as me?

Usually, but they will need to get their own funding source for their account. You usually can not share Neteller or Firepay accounts with them. You may however transfer them money at most poker rooms. Signing up underage people, pets, appliances, lawn gnomes or some other figment of your imagination just to get a rakeback deal is fraud. You risk the poker room asking for ID and then having your account frozen and funds confiscated. It will also be hard to fund this account as it is not possible to get Neteller accounts for these fantasies.

What is Rakeback?

Rake is how poker rooms make money

To understand what is rakeback, you must first learn how poker rooms make profit by charging rake from all real money players. Rake is the only way for poker rooms to make money, since unlike with other casino games, in poker the players are wagering money against other players and not against the house. Think of rake as a small entry fee taken by the poker room for organizing the games.

Poker players do not directly lose any money to the poker room, but the room is steadily raking in micro payments from every cash game pot and tournament entry. The proportion of rake taken online is roughly the same 5% of pot size as in brick and mortar casinos, and depending from stakes it can be anywhere from one cent to five dollars.
Rakeback is a refund of rake

Rakeback is a way for you to save on poker rake costs. By creating your new online poker room accounts through Rakeback.com you will save on average 30% of any rake you pay. Once your poker account is registered in Rakeback.com system, we can keep track of all rake you pay to the poker room. And based on revenue share agreement made between the poker room and Rakeback.com, we are able to credit your poker account with rakeback payments of your rake. Rakeback is typically paid once per calendar month, directly back to your poker account.

Please try the Rakeback Calculator tool to see an estimate of how much rake you are currently paying, and how big your savings could be if you were using rakeback.
How your rake is calculated

Some online poker rooms display the total amount of rake taken from a pot, but none show what your individual rake contribution has been. For accounting purposes however your personal rake is recorded in the poker room backend, and rakeback is based on these rake reports. There are two main ways that poker rooms use to calculate your individual rake contribution: shared and contributed.

In the shared method, rake is divided evenly among all players that were dealt cards. For example if there are ten players sitting at the table and total rake is $1, each player would be assigned 10 cents of rake.

In the contributed method, players must contribute money to the pot to get assigned rake. The rake a player gets credited with is proportionate to the amount of his/her pot contribution. If you were to contribute $50 to a pot of $150 and the total rake taken was $3, you would be assigned $1 rake.