Rake comparisons

Playing online poker has some real perks over playing live poker. In addition to the convenience of playing poker from the comfort of your home the amount you pay in rake might be lower than rake taken at a land based casino.

In a game like poker where players are playing against each other and not “the house”, the casino has to make money somehow. When players contribute money to a pot with blinds and different bets it creates a pot. This pool of money is where casinos take a certain amount of money. This happens in every poker game at every limit. In many Las Vegas brick and mortar poker rooms the rake is capped at $4 per pot. The amount of rake taken depends on how much money is in the total pot. For example, if there’s $10 in the pot then $1 is taken for rake, once the pot reaches $30 then $2 would be the rake, etc.

In addition to the casino making money off the rake from poker pots the players who visit from out of state often need to stay somewhere. Poker rooms in Las Vegas know they need to compete to get you in their doors. By calling the poker room you can often get better hotel room rates for playing a certain amount of hours per day. So while you might be getting a hefty discount on a room rate you might be tying yourself to the poker tables for six hours or more of play. Between the rake and potential cost of a hotel room the overall cost of playing poker can be substantial, especially if you have a few losing sessions.

Online poker just might be cheaper for players alone based on the cost of hotels and food. Staying at home to play poker certainly has its advantages. In addition the largest online poker rooms in the world, PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker, cap their rake from each pot as well. Full Tilt has a capped rake of $3 and Poker Stars has a capped rake set at various levels depending on the stakes you play. The max rake taken at PokerStars is $5 per pot for anyone who plays at limits of $50/$100 or higher.

While there are many factors that go into deciding where to play cards, do not forget o calculate how much rake you will be paying. To have a profitable session you need to not only beat the other players, but beat the rake as well.

Curtis Steuber