|
 In recent years,
rakeback has exploded at an incredible rate. Poker rakeback used to
be reserved for loyal, experienced and valuable players and only a
percentage of poker players had even heard about it. These days
rakeback is available to all online poker players and even beginner
players either know about it, or find out about it very
quickly.
In case you are not familiar with
the term, we provide a brief explanation of it below. We also look
at the benefits of rakeback from both a player perspective, the
poker room perspective and, of course, from the point of view of a
poker affiliate.
What is
Rakeback?
Rake is an amount charged by online
poker rooms to the poker players for playing on their site. Every
time a pot is created in a poker hand, the poker room take a small
percentage out of the pot – this is called the rake. Poker rooms
also charge a fee for entering a real money poker tournament. For
example, in a $10 + $1 sit and go $10 is the buy-in that goes into
the prize-pool while the $1 is the entry fee charged by the poker
room. This is a form of rake, sometimes referred to as the
“juice”.
Rakeback is a way for the online
poker rooms to reward their poker players for the amount of poker
they play. It is usually expressed as a percentage (for example
30%) and basically players get given back this amount of the rake
that they play. If a player entered 200 $10+1 tournaments, they
would effectively have paid $200 in rake. If they were on a 30%
rakeback deal, the poker room would therefore pay that player $60
as a reward for their custom.
Why is Rakeback good for
Players?
Poker players can be very loosely
divided into three categories; casual players, rakeback grinders
and the consistent winning players. To the casual player – who is
quite often a losing poker player – the cost of the rake usually
does not even register. They are just interested in playing poker
for a bit of fun. The fact that they can get a bit of extra cash in
the form of rakeback is a bonus that enables them to get some extra
value and play a little more poker for each deposit.
For the rakeback grinder, rakeback
is very important. This type of player tends to play a very high
volume of poker. They will usually be marginal winners or marginal
losers, or often around break even at the poker tables. The amount
of poker they play leads to them generating a lot of rake, meaning
they can earn a decent amount of rakeback each month – which is
effectively their profit.
For the consistent winner or
professional poker player, the rake is largely seen as a cost of
doing business. A player could be winning hundreds or thousands of
dollars each month playing poker, and they are effectively paying
the poker room rake to provide them with this opportunity. Rakeback
is probably less essential to the professional player than a
rakeback grinder, as they are winning money anyway. However, they
are also likely to be playing a lot of volume too so a good
rakeback deal will see them increase their profits.
Why do Poker Rooms offer
Rakeback
As we have already discussed, the
online poker industry is incredibly competitive. Rakeback is form
of loyalty reward, enabling poker rooms to look after their players
and give them something back. A poker player on a good rakeback
deal is far more likely to keep playing at a specific poker room as
they are getting rewarded to do so.
Rakeback can also be an incentive
for a poker room to get players to sign up to them. Not every poker
room offers rakeback, so those that do have an edge to getting the
high value players.
How does Rakeback help an
Affiliate?
As rakeback has become increasingly
more common place, the number of poker rakeback affiliates has
grown. Many poker rooms run their rakeback schemes through their
affiliates – ie. it is the responsibility of the affilia pay
out the rakeback to a player (funded by their own commissions).
This enables a poker rakeback affiliate to actually develop a
relationship with their players. Rather than just being a website
advertising a number of different poker rooms, an affiliate can
build a base of customers, give them access to the different
rakeback deals and generate repeat business. A good poker affiliate
can take advantage of this situation and take their earnings to
another level. It is no longer just about having a good website
–but the quality of service and the range and value of deals
available become important too.
How Does Rakeback Engine
help?
The poker rakeback affiliate
industry is one of the most fiercely competitive online market
places there is. There are hundreds of millions of dollars
available, and everyone is fighting for their share. To be
successful as a poker rakeback affiliate takes a lot of hard work
and effort. Poker players have a wide choice of where to play and
which affiliate to use, so to stand out an affiliate needs to offer
the best deals available and look after their players well.
The Rakeback Engine Solution
provides new and existing rakeback affiliates with the complete
package needed to run a profitable website. We enable our partners
to promote the highest and best rakeback deals at all the leading
online poker rooms through one system. Our software automates the
processes involved in recording, reporting and paying out rakeback
to players.
Quite simply, everything that is
hard about managing a rakeback website we make easy. Our partners
save significant time and money using our solution, leaving them
free to focus on growing and marketing their website. Increased
efficiency means increased profitability.
Read Next Section : 6. Why do some
Affiliates Fail? |
