Rake reduces profitability and affects the playability of some hands. The attached bar graph shows the effect of four different levels of rake at two different betting limits for two different starting hands: JJ, a strong hand, and KT offsuit, a weak hand. To normalize the data, profitability per hand is shown as the number of big bets won or lost per hand.
There are three important truths about rake that you need to know:
1. As the rake goes up, all hands show a drop in profit. However, weaker hands lose a lot
more percentage wise than stronger hands.
2. The impact of rake is more severe at lower limits.
3. Money can only be made in games that are "loose enough" to allow you to "overcome the
rake". Otherwise, rake can make every player in the game lose money.
How can you beat the rake?
1. Avoid games with high rake.
2. Only play in games which are loose enough to allow you to "overcome the rake". Overcoming the rake is made possible by having players in the game who play more hands than they should (playing some hands with negative expectation). This means that they are making the pots larger that you win and that reduces the effect of the rake. The lower the limits, the more looseness required:
- Tight games (< 2.8 players see the flop) generally can't be beaten at mid and lower limits.
- Average games (up to 4.3 players see the flop) should not be played at very low limits.
- Loose and very loose games are required if you want to play at very low limits.
3. Move up to higher limit games (assuming they are loose enough) when you can both afford it and feel comfortable playing at that limit; comfortable in the sense that your skill level will make you competitive.
Use Turbo Texas Hold'em to learn a lot more
Turbo Texas Hold'em gives advice tailored to different types of games and betting limits. The "quick start" feature lets you select games at various levels and automatically sets the limits. The rake settings default to on-line rake levels but are adjustable. Turbo Texas Hold'em not only advises how to play, it tells you how tight each game is, takes the rake from the pot and shows you the cost of the rake.
Note: To gather the data shown in the bar charts, each of the tests used the following conditions:
- the button was frozen at seat 10
- the hand for seat 10 was stacked with either JJ or KT offsuit
- the limits and the rake were set as shown
- seat 10 played only those hands which had either one caller or one raiser. This was arbitrary to
allow consistent data to be gathered. The purpose of the tests was to show the relative impacts of
higher rake and lower limits in a consistent manner - not to measure actual profitability.
Big bets won/hand
The leftmost 4 bars are our "base data" and show how JJ and KT offsuit
do with no rake.
- The results for JJ are the same regardless of the limits; just over 1 big bet
won per hand.
- The results for KTo are lower but also the same regardless of the limits; 0.17
big bets won per hand.
The next 4 bars show a rake level typical of on-line play. 5% rake to a $3 max , no tip and
no jackpot drop.
- At $20/$40, JJ return drops about 4%. At $2/$4, it drops about 16%
- At $20/$40, KTo return drops about 18%. At $2/$4, it drops 50%
The next 4 bars show a rake level typical of many cardrooms. 10% rake to a $3 max, a
$0.50 tip and a $1 jackpot drop.
- At $20/$40, JJ return drops about 6%. At $2/$4, it drops about 45%
- At $20/$40, KTo return drops about 29%. At $2/$4, it stops winning and loses about
0.1 big bets per hand.
The rightmost 4 bars show a heavy rake level which unfortunately does exist in some
cardrooms, particularly in some Indian casinos. 10% rake to a $4 max, a $1.00 tip and a
$2 jackpot drop.
- At $20/$40, JJ return drops about 10%. At $2/$4, it drops about 59%
- At $20/$40, KTo return drops about 39%. At $2/$4, it stops winning and loses about 0.16
big bets per hand.
