Is Rakeback a Good Thing for Online Poker?

Rakeback is here; it’s not going away, so we might as well embrace it. There is that place in the back of all poker rooms that asks, “What if this all goes away?” What if online poker, over time, ceases to be a profitable? Some poker rooms say that rakeback could be the tragic flaw of online poker. This is most likely the opinion of haters, who fear the loss of players to sites that embrace rake back, but are too lazy or scared to do anything about it. If, more likely, rakeback is just the next trend in online poker, then one should welcome it and adopt it if he or she feels so inclined. As online poker players, we might as well accept the presence of rakeback and make money where money can be made. We all may wake up one day one, two, ten years down the road and online poker as we know it has become obsolete. Wouldn’t you like to be the one who knew about it and implemented it today, so you won’t be left behind in this shift in the industry?

The Bottom Line

The bottom line is that, as an online poker player, if you don’t jump on the rake back band wagon, you are probably going to be left behind. It’s just the way things are. Players are beginning to see, from rakeback sites, that they are giving a lot of their money to the poker rooms in the form of rakes and tournament fees. Because of the high rakes and tournament fees, rakeback has occurred as a result of the industry. Poker Rooms pay their card room promoters a percentage of these rakes, and the good guys-the promoters-have naturally found a new way to entice players to sign up through them. They are just offering their players a loyalty reward by sharing their profits with the original generating source—the players.

In other words, the poker room promoters are the reason poker rooms are getting paid. The promoters are bringing in the business. In turn, the poker rooms pay the promoters for generating players (i.e., generating rake). The next turn in the cycle is the promoters are getting paid from the rake their players pay. The players are the reason promoters get paid. Therefore, basically, the rakeback is a comp, like casinos have been doing for years. Promoters are comping their players for signing up through them and contributing to the rake, which is the ultimate source of the promoter’s income. So, to answer the question, is rakeback good for the online poker industry? Yes, it’s great for those who utilize it to make money. That’s what we’re all here for anyway. Poker players are here, online, playing poker, to essentially make money. Whether they do or not is up to them, but rakeback sites are naturally going to move towards the trends that generate money, and players are going to naturally follow because they deserve the best bonuses and the best deals, including rakeback, because it is they who make the business of online poker.

Conclusion

Rakeback is great. It rewards players for playing, in addition to than player points and first deposit bonuses. Rakeback gives back to the community—the online poker community. Most likely, the money that is refunded via rakeback will be, for the most part, put back into the online poker rooms. It will return to the circle of online poker.