The Truth About Rake Races

This is a response to Randy’s excellent post The Truth About Rakeback. I highly recommend that you read it before you proceed.

Stop reading for a second, and ask yourself the following question.

What would have the biggest emotional impact on you?


Winning a 200$ gift card


Not getting the 200$ gift card you won

If you are like most people, your excitement about winning the 200$ gift card will be nothing compared to the feeling of loss you experience when you realize that you will not be getting your 200$ gift card.

Now read the article – The point about the gift card comes later.

Which players benefits from rake races

At some poker and rakeback sites anybody playing less than 30k hands a month won’t stand a chance of winning anything, however, this is not always the case. In the past I have been getting the equivalent of 10% rakeback from them in months where I only raked 1.000$-2.000$. This is probably a lot for some people, however, it is pretty standard when it comes to somewhat serious players.

The marketing value of rake races

Players don’t have to win anything from rake races in order to be attracted by them.

When I began getting serious about playing poker, which admittedly happened quite soon after I began playing, I began compare rakeback sites to find the best rake races each time I signed up at a new pokerroom. I obviously didn’t have any idea about whether or not I would cash in any of them, however, when one rakeback site were “giving 10.000$ away” and another one wasn’t, I went with the one that gave the 10.000$ away.

After all, I would have a remote chance of getting some of it, and since I planned on getting really good at the whole poker thing, I would soon be playing higher stakes and be competing for the bigger prizes.

The secret value of rake races

This is where the gift-card-exercise comes into play.

In the last week of a rake race the majority of the players will be checking their standings. When you see that you will win 200$ at the end of the month if you keep your current place, you will start thinking about that money as your property.

You are no longer trying to win 200$ – You are fighting to avoid losing 200$!

It is the same thing that happens when people are bidding in an auction for a new watch on Ebay. When you have been the leading bidder for a while you start thinking of the watch as yours. Each time you log in and see that you are still in the lead your feelings of ownership will be reaffirmed – The watch is still yours.

And when it comes to rake races that only thing you have to in order to keep your “property” is to play poker. You don’t have to throw money at some online auction or write complaints about “the unjust distribution of gift cards”. All you have to do is play a bit more poker than you usually do, and you can be certain that the 200$ will be yours.

If you get the prize structure right, most of your highest raking players will start playing more hands to “defend” their money, which means that you will be earning more money.

Read the Truth About Rakeback thread on PAL.

Please don’t leave, it is so lonely without you.
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