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Rakeback methods --What is Weighted Contributed Rakeback?
2010 is bringing about a lot of changes in the online poker world, everything from revamped VIP programs on sites from Full Tilt Poker, to Cake Poker, to PokerStars, but perhaps the most important change for poker players is the shift towards using “Weighted Rakeback” calculations as their rakeback method of choice –the most recent poker network to make the shift is Microgaming.
Of the three rakeback options –dealt, contributed, and weighted contributed—most online poker players feel the weighted contributed is the most accurate in assessing exactly how much a player contributes to the rake. The weighted rakeback method also does not reward tight play, so sites utilizing a weighted rakeback system tend to have fewer low-limit grinders, and therefore a looser game.
So what is “Weighted Contributed Rakeback” and how is it calculated?
The weighted contributed rakeback method awards players for playing –contributing—in more hands, but also for how much –weighted—they contribute. So, players will receive a percentage of rakeback that is in proportion to the amount they contributed throughout the hand.
Online poker players who are playing with a weighted rakeback deal will only be eligible for rakeback in hands in which they contribute to the pot in some way: Anything from posting a blind, to going all-in counts as a contribution. Furthermore, the more a player contributes, the more rakeback they will be eligible for –so a player posting a blind will receive far less than a player betting and raising until the river.
Here is how weighted contributed rakeback is calculated:
(Total amount of money contributed / Total amount of money in the pot) * Total rake contributed (known as MGR)
This number (your MGR) is then multiplied by the percentage of the rakeback deal you are playing under.
Here is an example of weighted contributed rakeback in action:
Suppose you are playing in a 6-handed, $.50/$1 No Limit Holdem game, and 2 players limp into the pot, the small blind folds, and you, the big blind, check. Of the 6 players in the game, only four are eligible for rakeback.
Now suppose you and one other both go all-in for $100, with the other player folding (having contributed only a single dollar. With a total rake of $3, and playing with a 30% rakeback deal, your weighted rakeback calculation would look like this:
$100 / $201.50 *$3 = $1.48 in MGR * .30 = $.446 in rakeback earnings.
Who will benefit from a weighted contributed rakeback deal?
As you can see tight players who enter very few pots and who aren’t willing to toss their chips around, will not benefit much from a weighted rakeback deal. On the other hand, a loose/aggressive player who is pushing a lot of small edges, and getting a lot of their chips in the middle will reap the rewards from a weighted contributed rakeback deal.
The weighted contributed rake method is the least widely used rake calculation method. It is currently employed on the Merge Gaming network and the Everleaf Poker network.
To get rakeback on these networks, please see our pages dedicated to Reefer Poker rakeback and Raider Poker rakeback. |
