Rake Races and Chases

Rake Chase or Rake Race:

Everyone that has played online poker before should know what the term “rake” means. If you don’t, “Rake” is the term used by poker rooms to speak of the amount of money a player generates for the poker room while playing. For instance, most poker rooms add a certain fee (which is usually 10% of a tournament buyin) to all tournaments played. That fee is considered the tournament rake per player and is how poker rooms make money from tournaments. For example, a $10 tournament will have a $1 tournament fee (10%) which goes to the poker room. Cash games are somewhat similar, but rake for cash game tables are collected a little differently. All poker rooms have their own unique structure for collecting rake but usually they are all pretty much in the same line of percentages. For cash games, poker rooms pull a certain percentage out of every hand that is played, usually with a capped maximum amount per hand. Depending on the stake level and size of the pot will determine the amount of rake pulled from the hand. For instance, if you are playing at $1/$2 stake limits, the poker room may pull a minimum of $.10 cents a hand up to a max of $1.00 depending on the size of the pot. Each player that has contributed to the pot will have a rake stake in the pot. Usually, rake is measured in comp points where players earn a certain amount of comp points for a certain amount of rake. Now, with all of this said, poker rooms run special promotions such as a rake race or rake chase, paying out thousands of dollars for the competition.

Rake Race:

Rake Races are usually offered to every player that plays for real money. Rake Races offer players a great competitive way to earn lots of prize money each month just by simply playing poker. Complete with leader boards, Rake Race events usually begin at the start of a given month and end the last hour of the month. The object of the Rake Races is to reward top rake earning players with cash prizes. The more money you rake while participating in the Rake Race, the better the chance you have at finishing in the top prize levels of the contest. Most poker rooms payout prizes for amounts of participating players from 20-30 players upwards in the amounts of a few hundred players depending on the size of the Rake Race competition.

Rake Chase:

Rake Chases work a little differently than Rake Races. Although the goal is the same, to earn as much rake as you possibly can, Rake Chases usually don’t come with set time limits utilize certain cash checkpoints or markers for players to win money. Rake Chases usually are measured with comp or loyalty points, which determine the leaders. For instance, Rake Chases may have 10 certain prize levels and the 1st 50 players for so may win a prize if they are the 1st to reach certain levels of the Chase. For Example, the 1st level may pay a $20 cash prize by being one of the 1st players in the Chase to earn 500 comp points. Once a certain amount of players reach the 1st level and earn the prize, the level may get locked out, leaving everyone to continue on to the level 2 prize. Usually, the amount of prizes may decrease the higher the prize is on the next level until there are just a few winners at the highest levels. Once those final levels have been completed, the Rake Chase is considered to be over.

There are some Rake Chases that offer prizes for every player on every level. All players have to do is complete the Chase to the top prize levels to earn each prize. However, with these types of Rake chases, there is usually a weekly or monthly time limit to complete these prize levels.

These Rake Races and Chases are great rewarding competitions for players that play a lot of poker regularly. Though every type of game generates rake, tournament rake takes too long to really compete in these competitions, as cash games offer rake earning opportunities at much quicker rates. Cash game players are usually the majority of the winners within these competitions. If you are a cash game player, then you should really have a look and see if the rooms you are playing offer such competitions because if they do, you can really “Rake” in the winnings!

Rake Chases for April 2011