If you play online poker regularly, you likely pay more in fees than you realize. The poker room takes a cut from every pot you play and every tournament you enter. However, through rakeback programs, you can get a portion of those fees returned to you.
The percentages and calculations may differ from site to site, but you will find rakeback in some form at most sites that offer live poker, including top online poker sites such as CoinPoker and BetOnline Poker.
For serious online poker players, understanding and optimizing rakeback can play a key role in their long-term success and profitability.
What Is Rake?
Before diving into rakeback, you need to understand what you get back. Rake is the fee that poker rooms charge for hosting games. It is how online poker sites and live cardrooms make their money.
In cash games, rake is typically taken as a percentage of each pot. This typically amounts to around 5% up to a maximum cap (often $3-5 depending on the stakes). The dealer simply removes this amount from the pot before awarding it to the winner. In tournaments, the rake is built into your buy-in. When you see a tournament listed as “$100+$9,” that $100 goes into the prize pool while the $9 is the rake.
Over time, rake adds up significantly. For example, generating $10,000 in rake annually is not at all unusual for someone who plays mid-stakes games and tournaments regularly. This is where rakeback becomes crucial.
What Is Rakeback?
Rakeback is a loyalty program where poker rooms return a percentage of the rake you have paid back to you. Think of it as a rebate on your poker expenses.
If you receive 30% rakeback and generate $10,000 in rake over a year, you will receive $3,000 back. That money goes directly to your bottom line regardless of your win rate at the tables.
Rakeback programs emerged in the mid-2000s as poker sites competed fiercely for players. Affiliate websites began negotiating deals with poker rooms to offer their referred players a percentage of the rake back as an incentive to sign up. While the landscape has evolved, rakeback remains a cornerstone of online poker economy.
How Rakeback Is Calculated: The Three Methods
Not all rakeback is created equal, as different sites have different methods and considerations for calculation. Understanding the calculation method is essential to knowing what you may receive.
Dealt Rakeback
Dealt rakeback is the simplest method. Every player dealt into a hand receives an equal share of the rake from that hand, regardless of whether they fold preflop or play to showdown. This system benefits tight players who fold most hands, as they receive rakeback credit even when they’re not involved in the pot. However, it’s the least common method today because it’s easily exploited by players who simply sit at tables without playing.
Contributed Rakeback
Contributed rakeback only credits players who put money into a pot. If you fold preflop without posting blinds or making a bet, you receive zero rakeback from that hand. Players who contributed divide the rake proportionally based on their contribution. This is fairer than the dealt method and more commonly used. However, it still has limitations.
Weighted Contributed Rakeback
Weighted contributed rakeback is the most sophisticated and fairest method. It calculates your rakeback based on your actual contribution to a pot relative to the total size of that pot. If you put $50 into a $200 pot that generated $5 in rake, you would receive credit for 25% of that rake ($1.25).
This method most accurately reflects your actual rake contribution. It is the standard today at many major online poker sites, including BetOnline Poker and ACR Poker.
The Role of the Player Value Index (PVI) in Rakeback Calculations
The Player Value Index (PVI) is an adjustment factor some online poker sites use to modify how much rakeback or rewards a player actually receives. Instead of paying every player the same percentage, PVI systems aim to reward recreational players more while limiting rewards for high-volume, winning regulars.
Under a PVI model, two players generating the same amount of rake may receive very different returns. Casual or losing players often receive close to the advertised rakeback rate, while skilled grinders may see their effective rakeback reduced. Poker rooms use this approach to retain recreational players and protect the overall game ecosystem.
Exact PVI formulas are rarely disclosed, but factors such as win rate, volume, number of tables played, and long-term profitability are widely believed to influence a player’s rating. As a result, advertised rakeback percentages can be misleading, making it essential for players to understand whether a site uses PVI-based rewards before signing up.
Rakeback vs. VIP Programs vs. Bonuses
The poker rewards landscape includes several different systems. It is important to understand how they differ.
Traditional Rakeback
Traditional rakeback is straightforward. You receive a fixed, predetermined percentage of your rake back. This percentage is usually paid weekly or monthly.
VIP/Loyalty Programs
VIP or loyalty programs use a points-based system. You earn points based on your rake, then climb through tiers (Bronze, Silver, Gold, etc.). Higher tiers offer better rewards, which might include tournament tickets, merchandise, increased rakeback percentages, or exclusive promotions.
VIP or loyalty programs can offer much more value than straight rakeback for high-volume players. The same may not apply for recreational players, however.
Bonuses
Bonuses are one-time or periodic promotions where you receive a chunk of money after meeting certain conditions. A typical bonus might give you $500 after you generate $2,500 in rake. While bonuses can provide value, they generally offer less sustainability than ongoing rakeback for regular players.
Many modern poker sites have moved away from traditional rakeback toward hybrid models combining VIP points, bonuses, and challenges. Some notable sites use this approach, offering various rewards through their rewards program rather than simple percentage rakeback.
The Real Value of Rakeback
To understand rakeback’s impact, consider a practical example.
Imagine you are a low-stakes grinder playing $0.50/$1 No-Limit Texas Hold’em online, multi-tabling four tables for 20 hours per week. You average 60 hands per hour per table, generating approximately $25 in rake per hour across all tables.
Over a month (roughly 80 hours), you would generate about $2,000 in rake. With 30% rakeback, that’s $600 returning to your account monthly and $7,200 annually. For a player with a modest three big blinds per 100 hands win rate, this rakeback might represent 25% to 40% of their total profit.
For breakeven or slightly losing players, rakeback can tip the scales between losing money and being profitable. A player with a -1 big blind per 100 hands win rate (losing, but not terrible) might actually show a profit with rakeback factored in.
Maximizing Your Rakeback Value
Following certain strategies and tips can help maximize your rakeback returns.
Game Selection Matters
Some sites offer different rake structures for different games. Pot-Limit Omaha (PLO) might have higher rake caps than No-Limit Hold’em. This means you could generate more rakeback playing PLO. However, never play a game solely for rakeback if you do not have success with it.
Understand the Cap
Since cash game rake has maximum limits, playing higher stakes does not proportionally increase your rake at full tables.
A $2/$5 game with a $5 rake cap might generate the same rake per hand as a $5/$10 game. This is turn makes lower stakes relatively more profitable when factoring in rakeback percentages.
Track Everything
Use poker tracking software to monitor your actual rake generated and compare it against your rakeback payments. Discrepancies happen, and catching errors ensures you receive what you are owed.
Conclusion
Rakeback is not glamorous, but for anyone playing poker regularly at top online poker sites such as CoinPoker and BetOnline Poker, it is essential to understand and optimize.
Whether you are a professional player grinding out volume or a serious amateur playing a few sessions weekly, rakeback represents real money that significantly impacts your bottom line.
The poker rakeback landscape continues evolving. Major online poker sites have largely moved away from traditional high-percentage rakeback toward complex VIP systems that reward consistent play while maintaining higher effective rake. This benefits the poker rooms’ profitability but can reduce value for players, especially those who play recreationally.
However, competition still exists. Smaller and newer poker sites often offer generous rakeback as they build their player pools. Also, some cryptocurrency-based poker rooms have emerged offering reduced rake structures and attractive rakeback programs.
Always research rakeback options before signing up at a poker site. Understand which calculation method is used, Track your rake and rakeback carefully. Factor these returns into your overall poker profitability assessment. That “free” money from rakeback may well help you continue to turn a profit in an increasingly competitive poker environment.
Check Out Our Other Online Poker Guides
In addition to sports betting guides and casino guides, Betting News also has a growing catalog of poker guides that cover types of poker games and other vital educational information for those who want to know more about playing poker online.
Learn about Texas Hold’em, Seven Card Stud, Five Card Draw, and other popular online poker games, standard poker hand rankings, what online poker beginners should and should not do, and more.
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