What is Rake?
Rake is the fee a poker room or online site takes from cash game pots, usually a percentage of each pot up to a fixed maximum, as its income for hosting the game.
A typical structure is around 5% of the pot, capped at a set amount per hand. In a £100 pot with a 5% rake and a £3 cap, the room takes £3. Many sites use a 'no flop, no drop' rule, taking nothing if a hand ends before the flop. Tournaments charge an entry fee on top of the prize pool contribution instead.
Rake is the main revenue source for poker operators, because players compete against each other rather than the house. Its level has a large effect on whether players can be profitable over time, especially at low stakes where the cap is rarely reached.
Rakeback is a scheme that returns a share of rake paid to players, either directly or through loyalty programmes.