As you play online poker you will quickly observe that the house take of the pot, set at a fixed or scaled percentage quickly adds up over time. Even if you are a winning player, rakeback can deliver a rebate to you on all pot contributions from you that end up with the house. Because of the highly competitive online poker world, sites actively seek to attract players with rebates on the rake. As a player adding rakeback to your bankroll can make a considerable when it comes to earning more from each hand. Over a period of months, that rebate can be the difference between finishing in a profitable or a break even position.
Whether you sit down at low limit tables or try your skill at no limit tables, the percentage of your pot contributions to the house rake can add up over time. Through rakeback offers you can often get up to 40% of this amount through rebates directly to your bankroll, which can help you steadily built up through effective play. Once you realize the many advantages of rakeback, you’ll wonder why you didn’t sign up for the program earlier:
Rakeback is the Equivalent to an Unlimited Poker Bonus
Many players choose to deposit with initial bonuses. These situations pay back rebates over a set amount. This process works this way … a 100% deposit match up to $500 may release in $10 increments until you have reached the maximum rebate, or until you have to re-deposit. While these bonuses are marketed in a way that makes them look attractive, a careful look at the math shows that rakeback may deliver a greater return over time. And, if you sign up through a rakeback affiliate, you may still be able to collect rakeback while you are working on deposit and other bonuses.
To start, some deposit bonuses are mutually exclusive from rakeback – if you take one, you likely cannot qualify for the other. So, before you take an initial bonus consider the impact on the long run bottom line. While a high quality deposit bonus may outpace rakeback for the initial amount, rakeback is good for the life of your play – continuing to earn an unlimited bonus on your play, independent of deposits can add up to thousands on the tables. For this reason you may want to forgo a larger sign up bonus to take advantage of rakeback.
Making the Difference Between Profitable and Wasted Table Time
Once you have played and become familiar with a particular site you are likely to want to continue to play it. Under an initial deposit bonus you will have to wait around for reload bonuses, losing that fixed percentage bonus you would have received if you had opted for rakeback. This time interval between deposits may turn you from a profitable to a break-even player, probably limiting the amount of tiem you play. With Rakeback, serious and semi-pro poker players, especially, can see a world of difference to their bottom line.
Offers Tracking That Keeps Tabs on Your Overall Play
The statistics you get with rakeback can, as a side benefit, help you keep track of your overall table play and your profit. With this data you can dig deep you can dig deeply into the factors that relate to your table profitability, and help improve your game as you strive to become a +EV player.
The author is a successful limit cash game player. He plays poker online and receives Fat Bet Poker Rakeback as well as Rakeback at Minted Poker.