Online Poker Rakeback

Online poker rakeback is an exceptional promotion offered by many of the top online poker rooms in the industry. However, you won't find rakeback publically promoted by the online poker room. Rakeback is a program found at 3rd party poker portals. To earn it, you'll need to sign up through the 3rd party web site.

Why Bother With Rakeback?

If you play online poker for real money, you have every reason in the world to bother signing up for a rakeback deal. If you had a coupon for 30% cash back on all purchases at your local store, would you simply throw it away? Certainly not! But that's exactly what you're doing if you ignore the chance to earn online poker rakeback.

Okay, I'm Listening – What is Rakeback?

Rakeback is when an online poker room pays a percentage of the rake from hands you participate in, directly back into your poker bankroll. Every time you contribute to a raked poker hand, you are giving a very small portion of your bankroll to the online poker room. The rake taken by a poker room helps to pay for the site's admin fees. The standard rake is 5% of the pot, capped at $3.

Instead of paying the standard rake, you could be saving, on average, 30% of your rake contributions. This 30% is paid back to you as rakeback.

Are There Different Rakeback Offers?

Yes, there are three basic types of rakeback – Dealt Rakeback, Shared Rakeback and Contributed Rakeback.

Dealt Rakeback

This rakeback method is greatly preferred by tight poker players. There is no need to even contribute a single chip to a raked hand in order to earn rakeback. So long as the hand is raked, you earn rakeback. The total rake is divided by all players dealt in the hand. Your rakeback percentage is paid based on the median rake.

Example: You're playing at a table with 6 total players. All are dealt into the hand. You choose to fold under the gun. The hand goes on to be raked at $3. The $3 rake is divided by all 6 players for a median (average) rake of $0.50. If you're earning the average 30% rakeback, you would receive $0.15 in Dealt Rakeback (30% of $0.50 = $0.15).

Shared Rakeback

This rakeback method is sought out by loose/passive poker players – those who want to see the flop before deciding whether it's worth investing in. Shared Rakeback is only paid to players who contribute at least one chip to the pot. However, how much you contribute has nothing to do with how much rakeback you receive. The rake is divided by all contributing players. Your rakeback percentage is then paid based on the median rake.

Example: You're playing at a table with 8 total players. You call the Big Blind, then fold to a raise, making you a contributing player. The hand goes on to be raked at $2.40, with 4 players contributing to the pot. The $2.40 rake is divided by the 4 contributing players for a median (average) rake of $0.60. If you're earning the average 30% rakeback, you would receive $0.18 in shared Rakeback (30% of $0.60 = $0.18).

Contributed Rakeback

This rakeback method is best suited for aggressive poker players who tend to contribute an above average amount to the pot. Contributed rakeback is paid to all contributing players. The amount of rakeback earned is "weighted", meaning that the more you contribute, the more rakeback you will receive.

Example: You are playing at a table with 9 players. You call the big blind and go on to see the flop. You continue to bet, contributing 25% of the total pot. There are 5 contributors to the pot, ending with a rake of $2. Each contributing player's contribution to the rake determines their rakeback. Since you contributed 25%, your rakeback will come from 25% of the total rake, $0.50 (25% of $2 = $0.50). If you're earning the average 30% rakeback, you would receive $0.15 in Contributed Rakeback (30% of $0.50 = $0.15).

Start Earning Rakeback

There is no disadvantage to earning online poker rakeback. There are specific advantages to getting the best rakeback deal to suit your preferred style of play, but if you think about it, online poker rakeback is just another poker strategy to add to your arsenal. It has the same effect as any other reliable poker strategy – to increase profits and decrease losses. Check out some of our online poker rakeback deals to see how you can start earning rakeback today.