What is the Rake in Poker?

Defining the Rake

Rake is one of the most common terms in poker. It’s the amount of money the host takes from cash poker games, usually a percentage of the winnings. It offsets the costs of running the game, and it’s how the casino or poker room makes money.

If you ever play poker in a physical venue, you may notice the dealer taking chips from the pot. This is how they take the casino’s gambling rake for the game in land-based games. In online games, it will just be a percentage of the pot deducted before winnings are handed out.

The amount of rake taken will depend on the variation of poker and the type of rake charged by the venue or online casino. The funds will then be used to pay staff salaries, as well as for equipment and fees for providing the game. Online, rake will contribute to website hosting costs, including support and software.

What Are the Different Types of Rake in Poker?

Casino rake can be collected in several different ways. Poker game hosts can use the rake however they see fit, as long as it’s legal. Some of the most popular options include:

✅ Pot Rake

This is the most common way to collect rake. It takes a percentage directly from the pot. At live casinos, the dealer will remove the chips from the pot while the hand is in play. The poker software will usually automatically take the rake from the pot in online games.

Always check the site’s terms and conditions to see the house rake rates before you play.

✅ Time Collection

As the name suggests, the time collected rake is taken at a specific time. It’s usually every half-hour while the game plays out, and it can be removed in two ways. It’ll either be a set amount taken from each player or a set amount taken from the first pot over a certain amount.

✅ Dead Drop

The rake is placed on the dealer button on each hand by the player operating in that position. The dealer then takes the money before any playing cards are dealt out. This is a set fee for every hour played at a poker table, regardless of the pot size.

✅ No Flop, No Drop

Most poker rooms have a “no flop, no drop” rule. This means that if there is no flop in a game, there is no rake to pay either. This happens regardless of how large the pot size gets.

It’s most common when you play the Hold’em poker variation of the game. It’s used a lot here because players regularly fold before the flop. If they didn’t implement “no flop, no drop”, they’d be penalizing players for a common part of that game type.

✅ Dealt Rake

This is the simplest poker rake structure to understand, although it’s often accused of being unfair. It arguably rewards tight players much more than those who play many hands.

With a dealt rake, players are charged a fee for every hand they are dealt into. This means that, whether you fold or play to the end of the game, you’ll be charged the same fee just for being dealt into the game. So, while you haven’t played the game, you’ve still paid the rake just like those who did.

✅ Contributed Rake

Most online poker rooms have moved from dealt rake to contributed rake. This variation was introduced to try and make rake as fair as possible to every player at the table.

Contributed rake in poker only applies the rake fee to players who have actively participated in the hand. It then calculates how much each player has contributed to the pot overall.

It’s not completely fair, though. Aggressive players might contribute more to the pot overall as they play more hands for more rounds than others.

✅ Weighted Contributed Rake

This is one of the fairest forms of poker rake available today. It assigns the rake by the amount each player adds to the pot.

If you’ve contributed 50% of the pot, you would also be attributed 50% of the rake paid in that hand. If you contributed 10%, you’d be attributed 10% of the rake. That’s what makes it weighted. It doesn’t favor any play style and is one of the fairest types of rake used in poker.

✅ Hybrid Rake

The newest type of rake fee is the hybrid rake, a combination of the other types.

Casual players make the most deposits at online poker platforms. Yet most of that money tends to fall into the hands of the skilled professionals, who don’t deposit often.

Looking for games with a hybrid rake can be a great addition to your overall poker strategy. It’s especially helpful for beginners as it can protect less aggressive play styles by preventing them from paying more into the rake than aggressive players.

Can You Beat the Rake in Poker?

While it’s possible to beat the rake in poker, really you just have to accept it as part of the game.

You should work on your poker skills rather than trying to beat the rake. It’s not something that stops you from winning or costs you a massive amount of money compared to losses at the table.

However, you should follow the advice below if you want to try and beat the rake in poker:

• Avoid Small Pots – Games with small pots aren’t as good as large pots when trying to beat the rake. The larger the pot, the less affected it is by losing a percentage of it to the rake amount.For example, a theoretical $50 pot is raked $5 – exactly 10%. A $150 pot is also raked at a maximum of $5, 3.33% of the total prize pot.
• Avoid Short-Stacked Games – Short-stacked games are more likely to be impacted by the amount of rake taken from them. Short-staked games usually have smaller pots, and rake takes more money from them as a percentage.You should always aim to play at medium, or deep-stacked games if you’re trying to beat the rake.
• Blind Steal for Profit – Going for a blind steal in a game is possibly the best way to beat the gambling rake. If the rake is taken from a pot that goes to a showdown, the blind steal can avoid this step. In other words, you could win the pot before the rake is taken.While it won’t save you much, it’s a way to make small gains if you can pull it off.

Conclusion: Should You Worry About Poker Rakes?

Rake can be a divisive topic. Those who oppose it claim that no-rake poker would be better as it wouldn’t take money out of the final pot. However, given the percentage of rake is usually quite small, there isn’t much money lost.

Generally, rake only becomes an issue in certain situations. Mainly, it’s when you’re playing low-stakes games where the percentage removed can feel more significant. You can minimize its impact by playing at tables with higher stakes, or adjusting your strategy to minimize your losses.

Ultimately, rake needs to exist in poker. Casinos and poker rooms need income to make running games affordable. That’s how most of the rake is spent – on salaries, software, and other costs. By understanding what rake is, and the different rake types, learning to change your strategy if needed, you won’t need to worry about it.