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Best poker rakeback deals
Rakeback has always been crucial for experienced players who play thousands of hands a month. And if earlier online poker sites competed, offering high percentages, it's not always easy to find a high cashback.
In this compilation, we will compare the poker sites with the highest rakeback deals and dig into how to correctly calculate the total commission return.
What is rakeback in online poker?
Let's start with the basics. Rake is the commission or fee that an online poker room charges for offering its services. For cash games, it's a percentage of the pot (usually 5% capped at a few big blinds), and in tournaments, it's a fee related to the buy-in of the event, usually from 6% to 10%.
Rakeback is a reimbursement of a percentage of such fees paid. For example, if you pay $1,000 in rake per month, and the rakeback offer is 35%, you will get $350.
However, in modern poker rooms, rakeback has evolved, and now just a few sites pay direct rakeback and choose different options:
- Rake races are funded with a portion of rake and reward players for their volume at the tables
- Random promotions distribute money from rake to casual players
- Freerolls and other events with prize added
- Welcome and reload bonuses.
Rakeback from the poker site vs. from affiliate
First of all, let's recall there are two types of rake back in online poker.
- Direct from the poker room: commission return in the form of direct cashback (once a week or a month), deposit bonuses, reload bonuses, rake races, and other promotions.
- Affiliate rakeback: extra reward from the site through which you are registered.
To calculate the total commission return, we add up all the current promos in each room and any special VIP offer you can get by writing to us.
Best rakeback poker deals
In the following list, we have included top poker sites with rakeback deals of the moment.
| POKER ROOM | RAKEBACK |
|---|---|
| PokerKing | From 12% to 65% + VIP deal |
| GGPoker | From 20% to 60% |
| iPoker Network | From 35% + VIP deal |
| WPT Global | Private rakeback deal |
| Betonline | Private rakeback deal |
Pokerking
PokerKing is one of the oldest skins of the US-friendly site Winning Poker Network. WPN has experienced impressive traffic growth in recent years, and in 2023 hosted the largest-ever online poker tournament with Americans since Black Friday — The Venom
Hundreds of cash tables, tournaments, and spins, are played at PokerKing throughout the day.
Overall: up to 75% + VIP deal from us.
Note: US grinders cannot join PokerKing; however, they can also get a profitable rakeback deal at Americas Cardroom, similar to PokerKing.
Redstar Poker
After the Microgaming Poker Network closure, Redstar Poker, like many skins, switched to the iPoker Network, a site famous for offering top rakeback deals since the last decade.
Types of rakeback
We can divide rakeback models into two major categories: Direct and Indirect.
Direct rakeback: an endangered species. Promotions like welcome bonuses or progressive models like the partypoker one reward players directly according to their volume.
- A contributed model considers the rake paid according to the money added to the pot equally between all players. It's not popular anymore.
- Evolution is the weighted contributed rakeback structure, considering how much money you pay in rake compared to the total pot. We consider this one the fairest model.
- Dealt rakeback models fall into disuse (only a few sites like Intertops apply it), giving money back to all players receiving cards in the hand, no matter if they fold preflop.
- Flat rakeback: no matter how much volume you play, you will always get a fixed percentage.
- Progressive rakeback: another industry standard. The more you play, the more cashback you get.
Indirect rakeback: the new standard. Rake races in which you clash with other grinders, lucky jackpots with thousands of dollars, random rewards with chests, infinite multi-tiered levels, scratch cards, freerolls with real money added, etc.
Please note that rake structure ≠ rakeback scheme. You pay rake according to a weighted contributed model (currently the industry standard) but indirectly receive rake back.
Ultimately we consider the best rakeback model for any player to be the most transparent one. Depending on your gameplay, we will advise you on what scheme is better for you.
Why do poker sites offer rakeback?
In one word, to attract and retain players. Even if a user loses at the tables, if he gets rakeback rewards, there is a bigger chance he will keep playing on the site. True, some poker sites are more generous than others, but undeniably those offering bigger cashback have long-term customers.
Of course, this is not the only factor; a good rakeback deal combines:
- A fair rake structure with caps and no preflop charges (hi GG!)
- On-time payments
- Enough traffic to release bonuses
- Unique rewards for high volume loyal customers
Do all online poker sites offer rakeback?
One way or another, yes. However, we should highlight that modern online poker has focused on protecting recreational players under the "poker ecology" concept, so pure rake back offers are rather weird and unusual nowadays. Nevertheless, all poker sites have VIP programs and loyalty systems giving cashback. The new industry standard is to offer random prizes, not having the volume played as the only factor but also considering the deposit/withdrawal ratio, skill level, etc.
In short, yes, you will receive rakeback in virtually all poker rooms, and if you register via a poker affiliate, you will even get more rewards.
Is rakeback crucial?
In the early 2010s, when the poker site portfolio was limited to PokerStars and other 3-4 networks, it was common for players to hunt for "maximum rakeback."
Today, although it remains essential financial support for regulars, it's no longer a key factor in choosing a place to play poker online for a full-time grind. Here are some other factors that our team pays attention to when choosing a site:
- HUD support — not all poker sites allow using HUD while playing. If you are used to playing with statistics, then abandoning it will require significant restructuring.
- Traffic availability at the right time — traffic peaks (and therefore amateurs at the tables) in poker rooms occur at different times of the day. It is wise to choose a room considering this factor.
Do you need help choosing the best poker site to play? Trust this to our team. Our round-table service is ideal for this as we give customized advice for grinders.
Contact us, and we will help with your choice, give you the best rakeback deals, and a goodies package that includes free software and much more.
FAQ
Let's answer the most common questions about rakeback: