Rakeback
Part of the rake returned to you, as cash, points or reward tiers. Often the difference between a break-even winrate and a profit.
The house takes a cut of every pot you win — that is rake, and at small stakes it is the largest single expense in the game. Rakeback is any scheme that hands part of it back: a straight percentage credited weekly, a points system that converts into cash, or a tiered rewards ladder that pays more the more you play.
The reason it matters more than it sounds is the size of the number relative to a winrate. A winning small-stakes player might make a few big blinds per hundred hands before rake and rather less after it. Getting twenty or thirty percent of the rake back can be a similar order of magnitude to the whole edge, which is why volume players choose sites by rewards structure and why some of them are, strictly speaking, losing players who are profitable anyway.
Worth being clear about the shape it comes in. Straight rakeback is the honest version: a fixed percentage, paid on schedule, easy to value. Points and tiers are worth whatever the top of the ladder is worth, which usually means the advertised headline rate applies only to people playing far more than you are. Read where the tier you will actually reach sits, not the one on the banner.
The mistake is letting rakeback pick your game. A softer table with no rewards beats a tough one with generous ones almost every time, because the edge against weak opponents is much larger than any percentage of the rake. Rakeback is a discount on your costs, not a reason to sit down.
FAQ
What is rakeback in poker?
A share of the rake you have paid, returned to you by the site or room — as a straight percentage, as points that convert to cash, or through a tiered rewards programme. It reduces the cost of playing rather than adding to your winnings.
Is rakeback worth it?
At small stakes it can be a large part of a winning player's total profit, because rake is the biggest expense in the game. It is never a reason to choose a harder table, though: the edge against weak opponents is worth far more than any rake discount.
What is a good rakeback percentage?
Effective rates in the region of twenty to thirty percent are common for regular players. Headline numbers on tiered programmes usually apply only to the top of the ladder, so the figure that matters is the one at the volume you will actually play.