What Is Rake in Poker? A Guide for US Players
Rake is the fee a poker room charges for running the game. In cash games it is taken from pots that qualify under the rake rules, usually as a percentage with a maximum per hand. In tournaments it is built into the entry price. It never sits at the table, but it comes out of the money being played there.
This guide shows you how to read it before you sit down. Every number here is a hypothetical example meant to show the mechanics, not any room's actual rates. Real rates change, so check them on each operator's official page.
Watch out: "US-friendly" is a marketing label, not a guarantee. It does not mean a room is legal in your state or available to you. Check your state's rules and the room's terms before signing up.
How to read NL25 and NL100
NL stands for No Limit: you can bet up to your entire stack at the table. The number in the name equals a reference stack of 100 big blinds (bb):
- •NL25: blinds of $0.10/$0.25. 100 bb = $25.
- •NL100: blinds of $0.50/$1. 100 bb = $100.
The name does not set the maximum buy-in. Each table sets its own minimum and maximum, and some let you sit with more or less than 100 bb.
Tip: track rake in big blinds as well as dollars. $1 of rake is 4 bb at NL25 and 1 bb at NL100. That lets you compare costs across stakes using the same unit.
Percentage and cap: the two numbers that matter
Cash game rake usually has two parts:
- •Percentage: the share of the pot that gets taken.
- •Cap: the most that can be taken from a single hand.
The cap applies to the pot for that hand, not to each player separately. With a $3 cap, the pot pays $3 at most, even if five players are in it.
The rule is simple: rake for the hand = whichever is lower, percentage × pot or the cap.
How to read a rake table
Rooms publish rake tables broken down by game (Hold'em, Omaha), stakes and number of players. You can see the format on the PokerStars rake page or in ACR's explanation of its rake calculation. Their figures change; what matters here is the format.
Hypothetical table, No Limit Hold'em, 5% rake:
| Stakes | 2 players | 3-4 players | 5+ players |
|---|---|---|---|
| NL25 ($0.10/$0.25) | $0.50 cap | $1.00 cap | $1.25 cap |
| NL100 ($0.50/$1) | $1.00 cap | $2.00 cap | $3.00 cap |
Made up for these examples. It does not belong to any room.
In this fictional room, the player count means everyone dealt in at the start of the hand, including players who later fold. Example pots are stated before rake and exclude uncalled bets returned to players. The calculation assumes no other charges and does not model rake increments or room-specific rounding rules.
To read it:
- 1.Find the row for your game and your stakes.
- 2.Check the rules to see how the room counts players when choosing the cap column.
- 3.Apply the percentage to the pot and compare the result with the cap in that column.
Two example hands (hypothetical)
Hand 1: NL25, six players dealt in, cap not reached.The final pot is $14 (56 bb). 5% of $14 is $0.70. The cap for 5+ players is $1.25, so the rake is $0.70 (2.8 bb). The winner collects $13.30.
Hand 2: NL100, six players, cap reached.The final pot is $120 (120 bb). 5% would be $6.00, but the cap is $3.00. The rake is $3.00 (3 bb) and the winner collects $117. In practice, the room took 2.5% of the pot.
With the same table, that $120 pot played heads-up (two players) would have a $1.00 cap, and the winner would collect $119.
Why a lower percentage can cost more
Compare two hypothetical rooms: Room A charges 5% with a $3 cap, and Room B charges 4% with a $5 cap.
| Pot | Room A (5%, $3 cap) | Room B (4%, $5 cap) |
|---|---|---|
| $40 | $2.00 | $1.60 |
| $60 | $3.00 | $2.40 |
| $75 | $3.00 | $3.00 |
| $100 | $3.00 | $4.00 |
| $150 | $3.00 | $5.00 |
Below $75, Room A charges more. At $75 they charge the same. Above $75, Room B, the one with the lower percentage, charges more, until it hits its $5 cap on a $125 pot.
Which room is cheaper depends on the size of your pots, and that depends on the stakes, the number of players and how the table plays. Deep stacks alone do not decide what you pay: the pots that actually get built and the rules that apply do.
"No flop, no drop", uncalled bets and preflop all-ins
"No flop, no drop" means that if a hand ends before the flop is dealt, no rake is taken. Many rooms use it, but it is not universal. Check your room's rules; BetOnline, for example, publishes its poker rules.
Two situations often get mixed up:
- •A called preflop all-in. If two players get all-in before the flop and the board is dealt, the hand does see a flop. The fact that nobody bets afterwards does not make it a no-flop hand. Using the hypothetical table: at NL25, two players put in $25 each and the small blind folds after posting $0.10. With no other contributions, the pot is $50.10. 5% would be $2.505; if six players were dealt in at the start, the cap is $1.25, so the rake is $1.25.
- •An uncalled bet. There is $60 in the pot on the river. A bets $50, and B, who only has $20 left, calls all-in. Only $20 of A's bet is in play: the pot ends at $100 and the other $30 goes back to A. That returned money is not part of the pot. If six players were dealt in at the start, the NL100 table gives a $3 cap: 5% of $100 is $5, but rake stops at $3.
Tournaments: prize pool contribution and fee
A tournament entry has two parts: the contribution to the prize pool and the fee. Together they make up the total entry. In a "$50+$5", $50 goes to the prize pool, $5 is the fee, and the total entry is $55.
The fee percentage depends on what you divide by. Pick one base and stick with it:
- •$50+$5: 10% of the prize pool contribution ($5/$50), or 9.09% of the total entry ($5/$55).
- •$200+$15: 7.5% of the prize pool contribution ($15/$200), or 6.98% of the total entry ($15/$215).
Comparing one tournament's 10% with another's 6.98% mixes two different bases and makes the gap look bigger than it is.
Re-entries pay both parts again. Three entries into the $50+$5 cost $165: $150 to the prize pool and $15 in fees. The percentage stays the same, but what you spend on fees grows with every entry.
A lower fee percentage does not justify moving up in buy-in. Compare the dollar fee too, and choose your buy-in level according to your bankroll and skill.
Rake taken from the pot vs rake credited to you
The pot pays rake once. For reward programs, the room then splits that rake among the players using an accounting method. These are the three most common.
Hypothetical NL100 example: six players are dealt in. A and B each put in $20; C puts in $8 and folds; the other three put in nothing. The pot is $48 and the rake, at 5%, is $2.40.
- •Weighted contributed (in proportion to what each player put in): A gets $1.00, B $1.00 and C $0.40. That comes from 20/48 × $2.40 and 8/48 × $2.40.
- •Average contributed (split equally among players who put money in): $0.80 each for A, B and C.
- •Dealt (split equally among everyone dealt in): $0.40 each for all six.
Under all three methods the total is $2.40. This is an accounting split used to calculate rewards, not an extra charge: nobody pays more because of it. Each room's terms say which method it uses.
Tracker stats are something else
Tracking software can show several rake figures, and they will not necessarily match the one a room uses for rewards. PokerTracker, for example, separates Rake Attributed, the rake taken from pots you won, from Rake Contributed, a split in proportion to what you put into each pot, as explained on its forum. Before using any of these numbers, make sure you know which one it is.
Rake and your results: don't subtract it twice
If your results are based on what you actually collected from pots, the rake is already out. In Hand 2 you collected $117, not $120. Taking rake off again counts it twice.
Do not confuse rake credited for rewards with the rake your tracker records from pots you won. Their definitions can differ. Check what each stat measures before adding it to or subtracting it from a result: a rakeback calculation base cannot automatically reconstruct an accounting result before rake.
What does help is comparing the same rake stat, in bb/100, across periods or table types, as long as you always know which stat you are using.
Other charges and what the cap covers
The example formula does not include other deductions. If a table's rules list jackpot contributions or other charges, check whether they fall within the cap or are separate, and whether they count towards rewards. A rake cap does not automatically limit every deduction from a hand.
Rake and rakeback are not the same thing
Rake is the fee taken from the pot. Rakeback is the share some rooms return to each player, calculated on a base the room defines itself: the credit method, which games count, and any adjustments or exclusions. So "30% rakeback" does not mean getting back 30% of all the rake at the table. And percentages calculated on different bases cannot be added together.
Before you sit down
- •Find the rake table for your game, stakes and number of players.
- •Look at the cap, not just the percentage.
- •Check what the room does with hands that end before the flop.
- •In tournaments, separate the prize pool contribution from the fee and compare using the same base.
To review conditions room by room, see our room catalogue, and always check them against each operator's official page.
Only play with money you can afford to lose, and respect the minimum age set by your state.
FAQ
Is the cap charged to each player in the hand?
No. The cap limits the total rake taken from that pot. With a $3 cap, a four-way hand pays $3 at most, in total.
Is rake taken if everyone folds before the flop?
Not at rooms that use "no flop, no drop". It is not a universal rule, so check your room's rules. A called preflop all-in that runs out the board does not count as a no-flop hand.
Is 4% rake always cheaper than 5%?
No. It depends on the cap and the size of your pots. In this article's example, the 4% room charges more on any pot above $75.