Newbie Rake question

[KHALI]

I have recently started playing some 5 and 6 max tables and was thinking about the rake. I know one of the thoughts on the advantage of short handed is less rake but the stars page says 2-10 players are raked the same $1/$2 and below. I have noticed that at times I have played at a table and money changes hands back and forth, players come and go but there (at times) is no winner at the table and in fact all players present are below their original buy in with no player leaving with a profit.
Has any analysis of the rake structure at the 1/2 been done? From what I am seeing I estimate 1BB is removed every 8 hands at a rate of about 10-12BB per hour removed. Is this standard for all levels? Is this level beatable and forget the standard answer "they play so bad it is".

[Backstabr]

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they play so bad it is

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[yourface]

if you have pokertracker you can check the rake by going to the (I think) summary tab and looking at the average winrate for all players including yourself

[beanwater]

very beatable. i play $1/2 on stars and have been winning. i never looked at the rake though beacause it hasnt bothered me.

[fmsr]

If you table select well, it is beatable. Don't bother sitting at a table full of tight passive or even tight aggressive players. You need someone who is loose and passive to pay the rake for you and you want him to sit on your right. If furthermore you have tight passive players to your left who let you isolate the fish, the monies will roll in. Of course the rake will still eat up a high percentage of your winnings at this level but you can definitely come out as a winner.

[jakbse]

1/2 6 max at stars 2.66/100 according to my PT. Quite horrible me thinks

[Absolution]

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very beatable. i play $1/2 on stars and have been winning. i never looked at the rake though beacause it hasnt bothered me.

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You might want to look into it because it affects the hands that are playable at that level. Most TAGs don't take this into account and just follow the advice/charts meant for 10/20 players. These are the same players that 3-bet my UTG raise with A8o because they have seen me raising a lot.