|
Limit Holdem Rakeback
Limit Holdem is the second most popular poker variant, trailing only No Limit Holdem in terms of player traffic, so with quite a few Limit Holdem players out there I’ve decided to break-down how a rakeback deal will work for Limit Holdem players.
If you are a Limit Holdem player, there are three separate aspects to determining your rakeback:
1. The rakeback deal you are receiving
2. The stakes you are playing –and more specifically the average pot at the table
3. The number of players at the table
The first aspect is very simple, all you have to do is figure out how much rake you have paid and multiply that number by the percentage of rakeback you are entitled to. If you’re curious how the online poker sites determine the amount of rake you personally have contributed, they use a method known as Monthly Gross Revenue, or MGR for short. Basically, the site divides the total rake from the pot by the number of players who were dealt into the hand –this is known as the dealt rakeback method, and is used by most sites, although some sites use what is known as the contributed method which is more weighted towards each person’s contribution.
The stakes you are playing, and therefore the average pot, determine how much is raked from the pot. You can use the rule of thumb that for every $20 in the pot the site will take $1 in rake (5% of the pot) –up to a maximum of $3.
Each poker site varies in precisely when they start to deduct rake from the pot, and in what increments it is taken. But for the most part you can stick to the 5% of the pot rule. So, players in a $2/$4 Limit Holdem game with pots around $30 will have on average $1.50 in total rake taken from the pot each hand.
The final aspect is the one that will change everything; the number of players at the table. One of the simplest ways to boost your rakeback in Limit Holdem is to play short-handed or heads-up games, instead of full ring. The reason for this is quite elementary; with less players dealt into the hand, and the same size pot, your percentage of the rake will be higher!
For instance, If you were to play in a full ring (10-handed) $2/$4 Limit Holdem game with an average pot of $40, your percentage of the $2 in rake would be a mere $.20. Multiply that by a 30% rakeback deal and you’ll be earning about $.06/hand in rakeback.
On the other hand, if you were to participate in 6-max games, your contribution to the $2 in rake would jump up to $.33/hand: Bumping your rakeback earnings up from $.06/hand up to $.10/hand. And if you choose heads-up games –the pots will be a little smaller on average in heads-up limit holdem games—you would then be dividing the rake between just two players! So, even if the average pot dipped down to $20, your contribution to the rake would be $.50, which would earn you $.15/hand in rakeback with a 30% rakeback deal.
So, as you can plainly see, when it comes to Limit Holdem it pays to take part in 6-max and heads-up games. |
