Hey,
I've been playing NL5 at Stars, until recently I didn't have any tracking software but I recently downloaded Elephant and the amount of rake I've paid astounded me. Over 4861 hands I lost $7.11, however I've paid $39.6 in rake. with rake I've lost 2.9bb/100. I don't know exactly how Elephant calculates rake, for example whether it includes rake paid in pots I lost. Even if it does the additional $19.8 would put me at a profit of $12.69 at a slightly more respectable 5.22bb/100. If it only included pots I won then the figures would be $32.49 and 13.37bb/100.
My question is whether it's possible to sustain an acceptable winrate with rake as high as it is? Shouldn't I avoid marginally profitable spots like QQvsAK AIPF because the rake makes it -EV? A brief online search suggests that Stars is one of the better sites for rake at micro stakes but this may be outdated. Are there any sites with less rake or rakeback programmes?
