How to Make the Most of Rakeback Deals

Rakeback deals are just like sign-up bonuses (they really are quite similar) with the difference that they never expire. You do have to select your rakeback deal just as rigorously as you select your sign-up bonus though. Different rakeback deals give you different rakeback percentages, but simply going after the largest % rebate may not be the best option. Why not? Simple. Rakeback deals are all intricate setups. While some may favor one type of player, another favors the exact opposite style of play. Some rakeback deals offer rake rebate on cash games only, which isn’t exactly something that will satisfy a tournament specialist. The way the various poker rooms (the entities offering these rakeback deals) calculate players’ individual rake contributions has a huge impact on your future rakeback commissions too. Here’s a short check-list of things you need to keep an eye on when hunting for the right rakeback deal.

Check for the payday. Some poker rooms pay their players on a daily basis, others will transfer their rakeback earnings into their poker accounts once a week. Still others will only pay once every month. Obviously, the more often you get paid, the better off you are. Bankroll management is about taking as much money to the tables as possible, which means that having your rakeback funds available will go a long way towards creating you a nice little advantage.

The sign-up bonus. I know what you’ll say: if you’ve already chosen rakeback over the sign-up bonus, why should you bother? It’s pretty simple really: rakeback sites offer sign-up bonuses as well, and though some of them subtract bonuses from your rakeback, not all of them do. At those sites, you can quite literally play with double rakeback for a while, that is until your bonus expires. The general features of the site shouldn’t be neglected either. You want to get rakeback at a site which offers at least decent traffic, loose competition and plenty of promotions. Sure, you’re there for the money and the rakeback, but what’s wrong with securing a WSOP seat on the side?

The rake calculation method used by the poker room. There are three different types of algorithms used by poker rooms to determine players’ individual rake contributions. The dealt rake (the kind Full Tilt Poker uses) rewards all players who have been dealt into the hand with an equal share of the resulting rake. You can rack up rakeback simply by participating in hands, and you’ll earn money even when you fold. The contributed rake method only credits actual contributors. In order to earn rakeback in a poker room using this method, you need to actually put money into the pot. Just being dealt into the hand won’t cut it anymore. The weighted contributed rake method is probably the one closest to the actual distribution of rake contribution at the table. Players are credited for rake contribution in a directly proportional manner with the amount of money they contribute to the pot.

Depending on your playing style, you’ll see that one of these methods will offer you a distinct advantage over the other two. That is exactly why you should always be aware of the method used by your poker room to calculate your rake contribution.

If you’re really hungry for rakeback and you do not consider the 30-50% industry standard satisfactory, you can sign up for a poker prop deal too, these deals may offer you more than 100%, but they do come with certain restrictions, due to which they’re quite radically different from your standard rakeback setups.

By Guest Writer

 

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