How high a rake is unbeatable?

[NYTyler]

I recently played in a game in my hometown (mind you this was a club not a casino) where the rake was uncommonly high. It was a $1/$2 NLHE game and there was no time taken but the rake was at 10% up to $25 for a $500 pot. Once I saw them take $27.

Now the interesting thing about this game was that at least 4 players playing (usually 7-10 players) would take turns dealing. The game was uncommonly soft. These guys were pretty loose but lots of times went in with very meager holdings. Sometimes they would tighten up and play more correctly.

One of the dealers stated that he had never read more than three pages of a poker book in his life, kept going into his wallet for $100 then $200 and then $200 again and must have bought in for $800 or so. He also stated that he was unemployed. I am fairly certain that they are probably sharing their winnings that they win from the game.

I am 95% certain that I am not going back to this place because I hate their rake so badly. But it got me to thinking. Is this rake so high that it is really unbeatable? With the lackage of games in my home town it is still tempting to go back but I think I am really opposed to it. Instead I may start my own homegame.