Poker Rake

Have you ever wondered the amount of rake the house earns from a poker game or what exactly a poker player has to pay from his winning pot?

Well, when you are playing fixed percentage rake games it is relatively uncomplicated to compute this. For example if the rake is 5 per cent with a maximum of $3, the winner is required to pay $3 for every $100 pot won and hence eventually gets $97. In case you want to calculate the total amount you paid to the house from all your winning games, just add this up and you will get the exact figure. Although, your share of money is present in pots won by others, this is not to be calculated as you would have anyhow lost that rake money.

Although, looking at it from the players’ point of view, this appears to be simple, when you see the reality of things from the house’s point of view; it will appear to be a complex issue. Here you need to take into consideration the payment you make to different pots at various stages of the game, as well as your actions that affect the final rake at the end of the game. Normally, the house does not take the rake when the winner takes the pot, but it is a gradual increase in payment as the game moves on.

As every player has stake in the pot, they also have equity in the rake paid by the winner at the end of the game. Contrary to the concept that the winner pays the rake, the fact is that he does not get the money taken by the house as take. For example, if he has won a $100 pot, he receives $97 and the remaining amount is taken as rake. On the other hand, if one looks at the issue from the house’s point of view, it means that the pot does not belong to any particular player, but is a unit that belongs to each and every player till it is won by a single player.

In addition to the above instance, it is important to note that lack of belligerence in play only enhance the rake and such players are always welcomed by the house. When such reckless players join aggressive and passive players in a game, the rake will go up as a direct effect of more money being on the board in the later stages of the game. Even if the reckless players do not win even a single hand, they help to increase the rake amount on every hand.

At the same time, it is also important to learn about the rake back, which is a kind of percentage taken from the rake generated by each player. According to the rules, even if you go down in all the hands and not win a single pot or do not pay any rake, you will still be able to trade in a part of your bonus points on the basis of the rake that you have generated for the room. The poker room will calculate this (MGR) on the basis of the profit made by the house owing to your participation in the game.