Playing poker is a whole lot of fun and there’s little wonder why it’s been played for over 1000 years. But playing online poker, which is obviously much more recent, is one of the most fun things Aussies can do in their own loungeroom. You still get all the challenges, and you don’t have to leave your home! It doesn’t matter if you’re playing poker in the casino or at home on the computer, the company that runs the casino still has to run itself – and that’s where a little thing called poker rake comes into play.

If you’ve never heard of poke rake, it can be a little confusing, so let us break it down for you to help you understand it a whole lot better. In every hand that’s played, the victor takes down a pot of winnings. It might be a little; it might be a lot. But a small amount is deducted from each one so that Ignition Casino can keep bringing exciting poker games to you day and night. The general rate is $.01 for every $.20 in the pot, but our specific poker rake tables and how our poker rake calculator works will be discussed below.

What is a Poker Rake? 

A poker rake funds an online casino’s operations. It’s a key part of how casinos “keep the lights on” and pay bills. Like any business, we need revenue to operate. Our technical costs are significant, and our employees need to get paid if they’re going to live and keep the site running. 

Distillers are in the business of making your whiskey.

Rollers are in the business of making your cigars.

And we’re in the business of dealing out the hottest poker action online. Simple, right?

Types of Poker Rake

A poker rake basically allows us to continue to provide you with quality games. There are a few different types, including the pot rake, dead drop, timed collection, fixed fee and tournament fee. There is also an option for no rake. Here’s how each one works.

1. Pot Rake

The pot rake is based on the dealer removing a small proportion of the pot after a hand is completed. It’s most common for money to be taken from the pot if the hand makes a flop, but if a player raises a pre-flop and everyone else that’s playing folds, there’s no rake taken. The player who wins pays the rake from their winnings. Often, the total amount taken in pot rake is 5-10%. This is the preferred method of online games. Most online casinos have a cap on pot rakes, which is good for players. An uncapped rake can be expensive.

2. Dead Drop

The dead drop refers to the player paying an agreed fixed rake to the dealer before the hand commences. This ensures everyone pays the same amount of rake and it is mostly used in live games.

3. Timed Collection

A timed collection is a fixed rake that’s collected at intervals throughout the game. For example, a rake may be set up to be taken from players every 15 or 30 minutes into the game. With this type of rake, all players are paying the same, which is better news for the winner.

4. Fixed Fee

A fixed fee is another poker rake option that will generally result in 5% to 10% being taken from the pot. These are more often used in games that have higher stakes simply because players don’t want to pay a huge amount of a large pot.

5. Tournament Fee

The tournament fee is standard for online poker players because they have to pay this to enter the tournament. The average amount is 10%, though this can decrease if there are a number of players signing up. This fee is charged on top of the prize pool, keeping fees and prizes separate, and it covers dealer costs, referees and general event costs at a live casino. So, when you sign up for an online poker tournament, you’ll see the buy-in fee is usually something like $10+1. That means your stake is $10 and the rake fee is $1.

Obviously, the most popular option for players is no rake, though this doesn’t benefit casino owners. A good way to avoid paying the poker rake is to look for promotions, particularly for tournaments. It will decrease the cost to play. Tournaments that offer free-rolls or zero buy-ins are not raked. You can also find some online casino games that offer fully rake-free poker.

Ignition’s Poker Rake

Our online poker rake is 100% transparent, and we post all our rules and calculations. Rake is collected at $0.01 for every $0.20 in the pot. Aside from that, there’s a max rake, so our revenue per hand is capped, leaving you with more of the profits from each pot when pots grow large. The exact cap depends on the type of table, game, and stakes. For heads-up games, the max rake is $1.

  • For fixed limit, max rake starts at $.10 at the $0.05/$0.10 tables and scales up to $1 at the $1.00/$2.00 tables. For stakes above that, the max rake depends on the number of players, and is capped at $3 at the top of the range.
  • For pot limit and no-limit, stakes up to and including $0.10/$0.25 range from a max rake of $.50 to $2, depending on the number of players at the table. For stakes above that, max rake ranges from $1 to 4.

Ignition’s rake calculator runs during each hand, calculating how much rake is owed and deducting it. You then get the rest of any pots you win sent right into your “chip stack.” Everything goes smoothly. Is poker rake illegal? Of course not. It’s a normal part of doing business. Ignition gets to keep operating, the cards keep getting dealt out, and players take down their winnings, one hand after the other. 

 

Rake vs Tournament Fees: What’s the difference?

Online poker rake is a little different from tournament fees. While the rake is deducted from each pot at a cash game in accord with our poker rake calculator, tournament fees are paid once for each entry into a tournament. Then, while the tournament is running, the calculator is off, and the tournament plays out until a winner is crowned.

How Can I Maximize My Profits?

So obviously if every player is paying a percentage of every game to the casino owners, you’re going to lose money. If there are 100 people playing a $100 tournament, the prize isn’t going to match up to $10,000 because the casino owner is taking a percentage of the total figure. Say you win $1000, but you only receive $900 – it can be a big hit to your bank, and your ego. So just prepare yourself for it. The more tournaments you play, the more poker rake you pay. You can’t do anything to stop it, but you can minimise the rake by not playing live games. You’ll also find poker Rakeback could give you more money in the end. Never heard of poker Rakeback? Here’s a rundown.

Poker Rakeback is the only way you can get back some of the money you have paid as fees. For example, if you spent the week playing online casino and you paid $100 in rake, you might find a Rakeback deal for 20%, which means you get $20 back.

Different online casinos offer various deals that allow this feature. For Ignition Casino, we offer a VIP Rakeback deal, along with a number of other bonuses such as rewards systems, deposit bonuses and cashback numbers.

Additional Tips:

Other ways you can maximise your profits include:

  • Avoiding games that have high rake caps.
  • Not playing uncapped games
  • Make sure you know the rake percentage and max cap on the game you’re playing.
  • Play timed games and play more hands.
  • Avoid smaller stakes at tournaments as they tend to have higher rakes.

Shop around at Ignition Casino to find a game that suits your requirements. We’re quite upfront about our rake so you know what you’re getting. You’ll find an abundance of poker games available, including all your favourites like Texas Hold’em poker. We have a selection of live casino games, and we offer some fantastic online poker bonuses. Just by signing up with us, you’ll qualify for a huge pot of bonus money after making your first deposit.

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