What is rakeback?
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Rakeback is a reward system most common in poker that returns a percentage of the rake (the fee the casino takes from each pot) back to the player. It’s a way for regular, high-volume poker players to reduce their effective playing costs over time.
How rake works in poker
In casino poker games, the house takes a small percentage from each pot or charges a time-based fee. This is the rake. Over thousands of hands, rake accumulates significantly. Rakeback programs return a fixed percentage of this rake to qualifying players, effectively reducing the cost of playing.
Rakeback outside of poker
In online casino contexts beyond poker, rakeback is sometimes used loosely to describe cashback-style loyalty programs where a percentage of losses or wagers is returned. If a casino offers 5% rakeback on your monthly losses, it functions identically to a 5% cashback program. Always check whether the returned amount is real cash or bonus money with wagering requirements.
Ben Barber got into the gambling industry through the poker rooms of London in the early 2000s. After building up a solid grounding in casino, sports betting and poker, he made the move to Malta where he spent close to a decade writing for some of the biggest affiliate networks in the region. A few years ago he relocated to Bali, which shifted his focus toward website strategy and affiliate marketing. The casino side never really left, though. He still writes reviews, how-to guides and in-depth pieces on everything from slots and live dealer tables to crypto casinos and sweepstakes sites. His approach is fact-first: help players understand how online gambling actually works before they deposit a cent.