The boogey-man of the beginner: the rake

Many online poker players start out by playing at the play money tables
that most online poker rooms offer. Play money action might be a good way to
get used to the interface and the rules of the game, but it isn't much more
than that.

Intricate strategy (or basic for that matter) is impossible to learn at
the play money tables, and efficiency is truly one of the last things that
ever cross a play money player's mind. This is one of the reasons why it is
much more difficult to make the transition from play money tables to real money
ones for beginners.

Another reason for it is a much less anticipated one: the presence of the
rake and its effects on the player's bankroll over the long-run. Real money
tables feature rake. The rake is a small percentage "raked" off each and
every real money pot that is won in a poker room. That's how the poker
room generates revenue, and that's how it collects the money it needs to keep
up the services it provides.

The Rake

The rake is paid by all players who take an active part in a hand and not
just by those who win the pot. The pot is a standalone entity at the
table,

it doesn't belong to anyone until after it's been raked, so do not fall
under the false impression that you are not paying rake unless you win.
The bad news is, whatever you do at a real money table, you will end up
losing money to the rake. In cash games each individual pot is raked in
the above described way, in tournaments, you'll be required to pay a
tournament fee.

The good news is though that there are ways to reduce the rake, and even
to recover some of it. The most straightforward way is through rakeback. You
sign up for a rakeback deal and you'll be automatically making extra money
on each and every hand you stuff money into the pot in. Rakeback is a very

convenient setup,Because it's a self-sufficient system, that is, you will not be

required to exert any sort of effort in order to make it work.

Rakeback Deals

Some rakeback deals, called prop deals, offer as much as 100% or even more

of your rake returned, but they have special requirements towards players

engaging in the scheme. A prop deal can be extremely lucrative for the right

kind of players, because it does have the power to make long-term winners out

of under-performing players.

Game selection offers other - more subtle - ways to reduce the rake. In
order to be able to dodge the effects of the rake through game selection,
you need to have a thorough understanding of it. Let's see cash games
first.

Paying Rake

You pay rake on every single hand you play. The more hands you play per
hour, the more money you lose on the rake. Consequently, heads-up cash
tables are the worst when it comes to the rake you pay, because they
feature speedy play. Short handed cash tables are rake guzzlers too, but every
cash game will ultimately eat up more money in rake than tournaments.

In a tournament, you only pay a one time fee, which is around 10% of the
value of your buy-in. You will not pay rake on every hand you play, and
you will get a much bigger bang for your buy-in than in cash games. In Multi
Table Tournaments your odds of making the money are low because of the
high number of opponents you're faced with. In a STT (Single Table Tournament),
you get better odds because you're only going up against 5-9 opponents,
but your buy-in/potential payout ratio will suffer.

Make sure you know where you're taking your hard-earned money and where
you can make the most of it.