Do the poker rooms profit from you?

[kimchi]

WPEX is maybe shaking up the online poker rooms with their 100% rakeback, but what other sites effectively offer this?

Anybody with pokertracker...please check your databases.

Go to the 'game notes tab' and make sure the filter is set to 'only show hands with 0.00 rake' and click 'get all'

Then divide the total at the bottom of the rake column by APH (average players per hand) to get an approximate gross revenue figure for yourself.

Then calculate your bonus and rakeback and divide this by the gross revenue.

This should estimate your effective total "rakeback"

Here are my results for 1/2 and 2/4 6 max recently:

Party-I only play with bonuses - $365 bonus, $438 rake = 83% rakeback

Crypto - bonus + rakeback $1209, gross rake $1173 = 103% rakeback

I know these results will be different with higher stakes, full ring, and NL etc. so if you post - state what games you usually play.

I'm particularly interested in sites that don't deduct bonuses from rakeback, such as Absolute, Ultimate Bet (25% deducted), True poker and any others....

[TobDog]

This is where I think RB is a bad thing, I know almost everyone has some form of RB but if it were not allowed, what is the most important thing? Anyone, how about beating the games. When I first started to play poker, internet gaming was basically non-existant, let alone rakeback. Anyway, every book or article I read about poker to learn was about how to beat the games you play in, first with game selection, then to play better than your opponents. I would love to have 110% RB but I am not going to play at a site that has 80% of the traffic from here, (we may as well throw quarters out back), I want to play against players that suck, I mean tear you hair out when they suck-out on you for the 40th time this session, hearing everyone else at the table bitch because "you cant beat players that bad", suck. The rooms have to make a profit to stay in business, go walk into a starbucks, ask if they have a "refer a friend, we'll give you 10% of their action for life" special(actually, I d like to see someone actually do this), they have operating costs, if you are running at 100% of more RB with your bonuses, that site is going to cut you off(See Empire) or they arent going to be around long. Just my .02 I would like to hear someones opinion who wasnt road raged 5 times today.

later

tobdog

[studmuffin]

In my estimation, casinos would not offer these incentives if it were not profitable. Consider the fact that many sites advertise on BonusWhores.com, etc. There will always be people who deposit and bust trying to clear the bonus, people who don't know rakeback from ho-hos, and other people who just mail the casinos checks on a regular basis. Remember, it's all about the longrun, for us, and for the casinos.

[Red Lion]

The poker rooms profit from you. Bonuswhores makes an absolute fortune as an affiliate. Most of you would never be able to guess what they make a month.

[Miyogi]

[ QUOTE ]
This is where I think RB is a bad thing, I know almost everyone has some form of RB but if it were not allowed, what is the most important thing? Anyone, how about beating the games. When I first started to play poker, internet gaming was basically non-existant, let alone rakeback. Anyway, every book or article I read about poker to learn was about how to beat the games you play in, first with game selection, then to play better than your opponents. I would love to have 110% RB but I am not going to play at a site that has 80% of the traffic from here, (we may as well throw quarters out back), I want to play against players that suck, I mean tear you hair out when they suck-out on you for the 40th time this session, hearing everyone else at the table bitch because "you cant beat players that bad", suck. The rooms have to make a profit to stay in business, go walk into a starbucks, ask if they have a "refer a friend, we'll give you 10% of their action for life" special(actually, I d like to see someone actually do this), they have operating costs, if you are running at 100% of more RB with your bonuses, that site is going to cut you off(See Empire) or they arent going to be around long. Just my .02 I would like to hear someones opinion who wasnt road raged 5 times today.

later

tobdog

[/ QUOTE ]

I've only been playing since early '05. However, was the rake ever any lower in the early days? If it was always 5% then rakeback is a good deal no? If a site raised its rake and then had rakeback that is bad for us as players but I'd rather have 25% rakeback on 5% then nothing on 5% and some casino owner can afford something else he doens't need.

[E.Z.]

"every book or article I read about poker to learn was about how to beat the games you play in, first with game selection, then to play better than your opponents."
tobdog,
my games selection starts with one that pays me to play, yours is find the fishiest games on the net and pay the site for the fish you intend to beat. i hope you aren't one of these guys that's saying "learn how to play rather that the bonus" cause searching the net and only playing in fishy games is not improving your play.

i go after the weak sister (the site) and your weak sister is the fish. but fish are everywhere bud....even at the dreaded world poker exchange.

[highland]

I did the monthlies at two of the cryptologic sites and ended up with 73% ($265 out of $360) rakeback+bonus betwenen the two according to your formula. I played almost all 2/5 NL.

cheers,
-highland