Rakeback

Also known as: rake back, rb, rewards

A portion of the rake you pay returned to you via a rewards or loyalty program, directly boosting your win rate.

Rake is the fee the house takes from cash pots (typically ~5% capped) and from tournament buy-ins (the "juice," e.g. a $109 event = $100 prize pool + $9 fee). Rakeback returns a slice of that fee — as a flat percentage deal, or, on most modern sites, through a tiered loyalty/rewards program that pays out points.

Why it matters more than it looks: rakeback is added straight to your win rate and carries no variance. A grinder's measured win rate is net of rake; rakeback partially refunds that cost.

• For a small-edge mid-stakes reg, rakeback can be the difference between break-even and clearly profitable. At high volume it's frequently 20–40% of total profit.
• It effectively lowers your risk of ruin by raising \(w\), the edge term — every bit of guaranteed return shrinks the ruin exponent.
• It rewards volume and game selection, not gambling: you earn it whether you win or lose the pot, so it's the one part of your win rate with no variance.

Factor rakeback into stake selection and site choice the same way you factor in field softness. Two pools of equal toughness are not equal if one returns meaningfully more rake.