Rakeback is Great for Poker Rooms Too
- Published 2005-08-13
- Author Pokeraddict
We all have heard how rakeback is great for virtually all online poker players. There are endless players out there that are receiving thousands of dollars in rakeback each and every month. What is not discussed much is why rakeback is great for the poker rooms themselves. As you have heard there are several rooms that do not support or are opposed to giving players rakeback. I cannot figure out why these rooms are so against it and refuse to support rake back. Here are a few reasons why I feel they should get on the rakeback bandwagon.
The first and most obvious is the fact that there is serious competition for poker players out there. There are over 300 online poker rooms and around 50 poker networks. Some are obviously much bigger then others. Many smaller poker rooms and networks love the concept of rakeback. Many of them feel this is one of the best ways to get serious rake generating players to try out their network. They offer a large bonus and offer players rakeback. This way a player has a generous stream of cash flowing from the poker room to try them out. Many players are simply bonus whores who move on as soon as they have cleared the first deposit bonus. Other players, even some bonus whores, will like the software, quality of games, overlay tournaments or other special features. These players will be even more motivated to give action to the poker room if they have the continual stream of rakeback. This can help a smaller room, especially a startup, to get off the ground and offer more games. They can also remove some of the need for prop players. Rakeback players tend to be multi tablers just as props are. Now instead of paying a prop 100% of their rakeback or more they are paying a multi tabling player 20%-30% rakeback that will help keep games alive.
Another big advantage to a poker room offering rakeback is that it keeps players from busting. The monthly rakeback payments turn many breakeven or losing players into winners. For example a casual -.25 BB/100 (big bets per 100 hands) rakeback player multi tables 15 hours a week of $5/$10. At the end of the month this player will earn around $1000 in rakeback. At the tables they lost around $400. With rakeback the player nets a profit of $600 where before he would have been a loser without rakeback. The $1000 rakeback payment represented $4000 in rake generated for the poker room. With this $1000 payment the player now can play another month without having to redeposit. If the player plays the same amount of hands the next month he now generates another $4000 in rake for the poker room and the poker room now gives him another $1000 in rakeback. At some point this player would have busted but now they have profited some off of their hobby and the poker room can make $3000 a month off of their action, $3000 in profit the poker room may not have had otherwise if the player busted and never played at their room again. Now if you take a serious player that plays 6-8 hours a day you can multiply these numbers by 3 and see why rakeback is such a good idea for the online poker room industry. If you multiply this by the estimated tens of thousands of rakeback players out there you will see just how profitable rakeback is to the poker rooms.
Rakeback also helps affiliates market their poker rooms. A poker room affiliate is contracted by a poker room to sign up players. When you sign up for rakeback you are signing up through an affiliate. It is much easier for affiliates to sign up players when they can offer players a chunk of their rake back then just hoping a player will click through a banner. This helps poker rooms compete with each other through affiliate programs. The exposure gained through rakeback sites is far more then non rakeback poker rooms receive. This is especially true for smaller poker rooms that do not have the exposure or advertising budget large rooms have. Many rooms now have recognized just how serious rakeback is and now pay the players through an automated system, some even offer daily updates on the poker room website. Of course many affiliates offer daily rake back updates on their websites as well.
The casual losing player, often refered to as a fish, does not know anything about rakeback. This player has no intention of winning when they play. Poker is entertainment to them. The casual player just hopes to get the most entertainment out of their gambling dollar. This is the player that the poker room and many winning poker players make their money from. Rakeback players need to realize just how many of these casual players are out there helping to add to the bottom line of the poker rooms. Poker rooms need the serious rakeback, for profit players, to help keep games going for the fish to enjoy. Many of these fish have serious, stressful, but money making careers, that give them the ability to take a large losing session in stride. These players are the heart and soul of the online poker community.
As you can see rakeback is not just great for players, it is great for everyone involved in online poker. It provides an endless stream of players who provide games. These games provide rake for the poker room and this provides rakeback to the players who play more games. It is a great cycle for the players, poker rooms and the affiliates and in the end everyone is happy. Hopefully one day all of the poker rooms will see how beneficial rakeback is for them.