Rake
Unlike every other casino game, when we play poker we do not play against the house. There is no house edge to insure a profit in a poker room. The casino or card room is simply renting the seats at a fixed rate and providing the tables, chips, cards and dealers for the poker players to compete against each other. We are talking about cash games here not tournaments.
Most commonly in low limit games the house collects a rake on each hand played. You should know what the rake is when you play because that is money being taken out of each pot before it is pushed to the winner. Most card rooms have the rake posted right on the table. Expect to pay a 10% rake up to a fixed limit. In Las Vegas the standard rake is between $4 and $5 a hand. Be aware that there may also be an additional bonus rake for various cardroom promotions; while additional charges do not go to the house but accumulate to be awarded back to the players, nonetheless that is money coming off the table and out of the pot each and every hand.
If you are playing a $4/$8 cash game with a 10% rake up to $4, then when the pot reaches $10, the dealer will pull $1 out to “drop” for the house rake. Another dollar at $20, a third at $30 and the full $4 maximum rake when the pot reaches $40. So if three players see a flop for $4 each, the pot of $12 is reduced to $11, if you bet out on the flop and get no callers, you win $7 on your $4 investment. In an standard hour, good dealers will get out an average of about 35 hands, if they all pay the minimum that means $35 has left the table. Since most hands pay more than the minimum, it is quite possible, even at low limit tables, that one hundred of the smallest denomination chips will go down the house drop each and every hour.
This means that to be a winning cash game player, you must not only beat your opponents at the table, you also have to win enough to overcome the rake.
Many rooms charge differently at the higher limit tables. At these tables there is a “time charge” or “collection” taken. This charge is either by the hour or by the dealer change. If you are playing in a time charge game, you need to be aware of how much and how often the charge is taken. Generally, speaking you are better off financially at the collection table over a raked game, but in most houses you do not have a choice between the two.
However, the house makes money on poker players, you simply need to be aware of the charges and factor them into your wins and losses. The game is not just between the players when you play in a public poker room.
-This is Beginner’s Poker Blog Post #85
