Rakeback vs Playing Winning Poker

There is one thing that was never a major source of professional poker players’ income until the advent of internet poker; this would be what is called rakeback. Rakeback is a portion of the rake that players are paid back. Rake is taken from most pots that are played in cash game tables and is usually a small percentage of the pot. This rake is what allows the poker sites to operate profitably. Rake in tournaments can be found in the buy in fee, when you see $50+$5 the $5 is representing the fee while the $50 goes directly into the prize pool. Poker sites that offer rakeback usually offer rates between 25% and 40%, with most of the offers hovering around 30%. Rakeback is extremely useful when building a bankroll as it is essentially burning money if you decide to play without it.

Rakeback Earnings – Supplementing Your Bankroll Through Rakeback

Many online players today use rakeback earnings to supplement their winnings, but some make most of their money through rakeback alone. Players who only make money through rakeback are often referred to as “rakeback pros.” A bit of a mockery perhaps, but these rakeback pros often make more money than solid players when measuring earnings by dollars. The reason for this is that the volume of hands put in by these players allows for their breakeven play to be far outweighed by the money they make in rakeback. These huge rakeback earning are most often achieved through mass multi tabling and by playing extremely long sessions. This is one of the toughest ways to grind it out as a professional online poker player as you will have to resort to playing in a very robotic way that disallows room for improvement or creativity in your skill set. There are only a select group of people who have enough determination to play the amount of poker required to make a decent buck as a rakeback pro.

Winnings

Winnings are the traditional way that a pro poker player has made their living. Players who survive on their actual winnings at the table must constantly be working to not only improve their game but also maintain all of the skills that they had previously acquired. It is more fun if you are able to rely on your winnings to generate income than it is to rely on rakeback, but it will take much more work. In addition to a heavier maintenance schedule are the inevitable swings that go with poker. Rakeback offers a relatively steady stream of cash while your winnings (and losses) will fluctuate a great deal when you are playing fewer tables to focus on your play.

Best of Both Worlds – Rakeback and Winning Poker

The ideal way to play poker in today’s online environment would be to find a solid balance between your actual winnings and your rakeback earnings. It is absolutely possible to make a good bit of money by being a solid player while also adding a nice supplemental amount of money through rakeback. The problem that players run into is weighing down on one option too heavily; this is where you find rakeback pros and players who generate little to no rakeback. Focus is important, sure, but it is even more important that you earn the most money possible in the most enjoyable and effective way.