Rake in poker
Rake is the fee a poker room or casino app takes for hosting games where players compete against each other rather than the house. In cash games it is usually a small percentage of each pot up to a cap; in tournaments it is a fixed fee added to the buy-in, such as the £1 in a “£10 + £1” event.
By the Best Casino Apps UK team. Last checked .
Key takeaways
- Rake is how a poker room earns money when you play against other people, not the house.
- Cash games usually take a percentage of each pot, capped at a set amount per hand.
- Tournament rake is the second number in the buy-in, for example £1 in £10 + £1.
- House-banked games like Casino Hold’em have a house edge instead of rake.
- Used in
- Peer-to-peer poker and similar games
- Cash games
- Percentage of the pot, capped
- Tournaments
- Fixed fee on top of the buy-in
- Where to find it
- Table info or lobby help
- Alternative model
- House edge in house-banked games
What rake means
In most casino games you play against the operator, and its income comes from the house edge built into the payouts. Poker cash games and tournaments are different: players win money from each other, and the operator has no stake in who wins. Rake is the charge for running the table, the software, the security checks and the cashier. The word comes from the old image of a dealer raking chips out of the pot.
Because rake comes out of money that would otherwise go to the winners, it lowers the average return to the table as a whole. A player who breaks even before rake is losing money after it.
How poker rake is calculated
Cash games
Ring games usually take a percentage of each pot, often around 5%, with a cap so that very large pots aren’t charged without limit. Rates and caps differ by room and by stake level, and many rooms apply a ‘no flop, no drop’ rule: if a hand ends before the flop is dealt, no rake is taken at all. For illustration, at a 5% rate with a £1 cap, an £8 pot pays 40p, a £15 pot pays 75p and a £60 pot pays the £1 cap.
Tournaments and sit-and-gos
Tournaments show the fee openly in the buy-in. In a £10 + £1 event, £10 goes into the prize pool and £1 is the rake, which is about 9% of what you pay. Freezeouts, re-entry events and sit-and-gos usually display the split in the lobby before you register.
| Game type | Who you play against | How the operator earns | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Poker cash game | Other players | Rake from each pot | 5% up to a cap |
| Poker tournament | Other players | Entry fee | £10 + £1 buy-in |
| Casino Hold’em, Three Card Poker | The house | House edge | Built into the paytable |
| Roulette, blackjack, slots | The house | House edge | e.g. 2.70% on single-zero roulette |
Where to find the rake in a poker app
The Gambling Commission’s technical standards say that for peer-to-peer games, operators must make information about potential prizes available before you play, and describing the rake or commission meets that requirement. So a licensed app has to tell you somewhere. The usual places are:
- Open the poker lobby and tap the table or tournament you’re interested in.
- Look for an info or ‘i’ button next to the stakes; it often lists the rake percentage and cap.
- For tournaments, read the buy-in line, which shows prize-pool money and fee separately.
- If it isn’t listed there, open the help or poker rules section from the app menu.
- After playing, check the hand history, which usually shows the rake taken from each pot.
Your account history in the app (see how to check your play history) records buy-ins and cash-outs, which is the simplest way to see what a session cost in total.
Rakeback and loyalty schemes
Some poker rooms return part of the rake through loyalty points, cashback or reward levels. Any such scheme is a promotion with its own terms, and it reduces the effective rake rather than removing it. Casino-side loyalty schemes work differently again; our casino app loyalty rewards page explains coins, cashback and races. Treat rewards as a small discount on what you were going to spend anyway, not a reason to play more hands.
UK rules that apply to poker in apps
UK technical standards ban automatic top-ups: when you buy in at a poker table, you have to choose to add more chips each time, rather than the app re-buying for you. Automatically posting blinds is permitted. Poker is also excluded from the rule that bans playing several casino games at once, which is why multi-tabling still exists in licensed poker apps. Deposit limits, time-outs and reality checks apply across your whole account, poker included; see our safer gambling page for where to set them.
Related terms
Baccarat’s 5% banker bet commission is a cousin of rake, though it is charged by the house rather than for hosting players. See RTP for how house-banked games express their cost, poker apps for UK mobile poker, and Casino Hold’em apps for the house-banked alternative. The full glossary lists every term.
18+. Gambling should be entertainment that costs money, not a way to make it. Set a deposit limit before you play: how to set limits. Free, confidential help: National Gambling Helpline 0808 8020 133.
Frequently asked questions
What does rake mean in poker?
Rake is the fee a poker room takes for hosting games played between customers. Because you aren’t playing against the house, the operator earns from a small cut of each cash-game pot or a set fee on each tournament entry rather than from a house edge. The amount is usually a percentage of the pot up to a cap, or the second figure in a tournament buy-in. Our poker apps page explains how cash games and tournaments are presented on a phone.
How much rake do poker apps take?
It varies by operator, stake level and game type, so check the table information in the app. Cash-game rake is commonly a few per cent of each pot with a cap per hand, and tournament fees often sit around 10% of the prize-pool contribution, as in £10 + £1. Licensed apps must describe the rake before you play, usually in the lobby or table info. If you can’t find it, ask live chat before sitting down. Our house edge entry explains the equivalent cost in casino games.
What does ‘no flop, no drop’ mean?
‘No flop, no drop’ means the room takes no rake from a hand that ends before the flop is dealt. If everyone folds to a pre-flop raise, the winner collects the blinds without any deduction. Many rooms use this rule for cash games, but not all, so read the rake section in the table info. It mostly affects tight games where many hands finish early. Our poker apps guide covers other cash-game terms you’ll see in a mobile lobby.
Is there rake in Casino Hold’em or Three Card Poker?
No, house-banked poker games such as Casino Hold’em, Three Card Poker and Caribbean Stud don’t have rake. You play against the dealer, and the casino earns through a house edge built into the payouts instead. The help screen in each game lists its RTP or house edge, which is the figure to compare. Our Casino Hold’em apps and Three Card Poker apps pages explain how those games work on mobile.
Can a winning poker player still lose money to rake?
Yes. Rake comes out of pots before winners are paid, so a player who would break even against opponents ends up behind once the room’s fee is counted. Over many hands, rake can be a large share of the money changing hands at low stakes, where caps are rarely reached. That is one reason poker shouldn’t be seen as a way to earn money. Track your real results through the app’s transaction history rather than memory.
Does rake show up on my bank statement?
No, rake is taken inside the poker game, not as a separate payment. Your bank or card statement only shows deposits into and withdrawals from your gambling account, not what happens at the tables. To see what you’ve paid, check the hand histories or tournament buy-in records in the app, or download your account history. Our guide on how casino app payments show on bank statements explains what does appear and how it’s labelled.