Beating The Rake

To be realistic, the house already has an edge on you. The rake is built in so that the house takes money from you in small, unnoticed amounts. There are a few guidelines you can go by to minimize this... Some poker rooms will only rake the pot once it has reached a certain amount, so you want to play opposite the style of the table in these cases...

You can exploit tight players through tactics such as blind stealing and through buying free cards. Blind stealing is simply betting when only blinds are left in the game pre-flop. You can raise from the small blind position or from the position just before the small blind (usually the dealer's position) to try and steal the cost of the two blinds. Buying a free card is a trick best used in last position. If no one else has raised post-flop, then you bet. This will most likely cut down on the number of players (and potential money in the pot), but everyone who stays will tend to check to you. Then on the turn, after everyone has checked you don't necessarily have to bet again. That is why it's called a free card. It's best used with drawing hands, too.

When playing against aggressive players, you tighten up. Be mindful of your position. Play only premium starting hands and fold after the flop if you didn't come up with much. The reason for this is the same reason for playing tight at all. You will get raked when you win, but if you win just one extra big hand for playing like this, you'll have covered the cost of the rake. Savor that one when your single high pair beats the same pair because your kickers are always better.

If the rake is a set percentage (usually 4% to 10%), the tactics for an aggressive player won't be as successful. Every failed attempt at blind-stealing is going to be raked, and all bluffing is now 4%-10% less worth it. You have to be a better player to overcome that percentage, and once you get to that point, you shouldn't be too preoccupied with the rake. If you are a beginner, play tighter than usual.

Article written by texasholdem-poker.com

Thanx for the tips... very informative and useful info for ring game players such as myself.

Watched a $5/$10 game at Tropics one afternoon. Player 1 came in with $400 the other came in with $500. The topic of discussion that night at a tourney was that the $900 they came into the table with was now $850. They had played for hours. I thought that was comical.

Duke14 ..that is pretty bad..when the rake is $50..i wish the rake was like super small..if there was no rake at all i would have sooo much more money in my name :P lol

Thank you for the tips also

Great post, really appreciate that...

I have yet to play live poker. Most of my experience has been online. The best I've gotten to is 15th place out of 1000. My question is this: When I do get ready to play a live game near where I live (Cripple Creek, CO,) what is the best way to play so that you can rake more? I tend to be really tight if I don't have the nuts in my hole cards. Occasionally I will play agressive with suited hands and make the mistake of thinking my flush draw will be the best. I have been caught so many times by a beating FH. Any tips on how to read people both online and live? I want to be able pull in as much as I'm betting for. Also, at home I can let my emotions fly...but how can I develop myself so that my "tells" aren't obvious when I do decide to play live action? Am I making any sense?

Thanks,
Melziemae

i will try and give u a tip melziemae....tend to play ur gut..easier said than done but i ihave learned it is the best way to play..if u feel it in ur hole cards go for it but thas from my view not a pros

I don't recomend playing strategy to be based on "Beating the Rake".

The House is going to get theirs regardless of how you play.

Beat the Game not the Rake....That is the only way to profit.

great info thank for the post. should come in handy

Interesting facts that I wasn't aware of, though I do agree with VegasGrinder

Ok good article for reading purposes and some good knowledge in that article.

Something to add..The House does not have an edge on you in Poker....You are not playing against the House...The Rake is the price to play at their Casino.

The Rake is nothing more than a Fee to play their.
The Rake should not determine if, how or when to play a hand.

Their is no way around paying it. It is a % taken from every pot with a Max Total.

Good post, Nick. The rake is something few players give any thought to, and they sometimes make late-hand moves which don't really improve anything but the house take. Since I rarely play any ring games above the .50/1.00 level, the rake isn't a major consideration for me. But for purposes of good pot management, the solid all-around player is going to understand the rake structure in the game they're playing and how their betting affects the rake. The house is going to get their cut, as always, but there's no sense in giving money away, particularly your own.

I do agree with the Grinder on his points that the house is always going to get their cut, that poker is the only game that isn't slanted to the house, and that your best approach is to worry about the game and let the rake worry about itself.

The only thing fresh that I would add here is when selecting your online poker rooms, take time to become familiar with the rake structure. Like everything else, the formats are different from site to site and can impact issues like bonus redemption in ways you might not expect.

i think most rakes arent bad because they give u FPPs like at pokerstars where u can use them for cool stuff

Even better is a rakeback program when playing online. I'm not going to spam any sites, but there are a lot of them out there.