Different Rake Allocation Models
No matter at which poker room you play, rake is always taken in the same way. At the end of the hand, before the pot goes to a winner, a small percentage is taken as rake. Yet depending on the rake allocation system which the room used, this taken rake can be distributed differently among the players involved in the hand.
Important to note is that a change in rake allocation method does not increase or decrease the overall rake – it only changes which players are credited with having paid that rake. This can of course have an impact on the amount of rakeback or loyalty points individual players receive.
There is a variety of commonly used rake allocation methods currently used in the industry. We will take a closer look at two of these.
Dealt Rake
Dealt rake is the easiest system to understand and was the most commonly used allocation method in the industry for a long time. In the past nearly every room used dealt rake allocation at one point or another.
It simply divides the paid rake evenly among all players who were dealt into the hand. So in a 10 player hand in which $1 of rake was taken, every player would be credited with $0,10 of rake. If the room is giving out VIP points, such as PartyPoints, the amount of points received would be based on these $0,10 of rake.
In recent times many rooms have started to stop using dealt rake however. Big networks such as iPoker stopped using dealt rake in the beginning of 2010, Ongame moved to Essence not much later, and even Full Tilt switched its rake attribution a few months ago. Most recently PartyPoker also switched away from dealt rake to weighted contributed.
Why are rooms abandoning dealt rake?
Although dealt rake is a simple and easy to understand rake model, it favours tight play and tight players. Since it attributes rake even to players who are not involved in hands, players can simply sit and wait for hands while collecting points. This has two main effects to the overall room:
1) Players tend to play tighter both pre-flop and post-flop. This makes the game less attractive for fish and other players who want lots of action. When iPoker moved from dealt to contributed it saw a significant change in pre-flop habits.
2) Weak players who play lots of hands and give lots of action are attributed only very little rake. Since they are attributed little rake, they aren’t sufficiently “valued” for their contribution.
Weighted Contributed
Many rooms that stopped using dealt have moved over to weighted contributed rake. This rake system is quickly becoming one of the most used models in the industry.
The reason many rooms use it is its supposed “fairness”. It allocates rake based on the weighted contributed that each player made to the pot. So if we have a 10 player hand in which $1 of rake was taken from a $25 pot, which resulted from 3 players investing $5, $10 and $10 these would be credited with $0,20, $0,40 and $0,40 in rake.
Why is weighted contributed so popular?
Weighted contributed allocates rake to players who play lots of pots and who are often all-in. It actually gives rake to the players who actually create the pots. It therefore rewards loose play and lots of action. This has the following effect:
1) The games get looser both pre-flop and post-flop since even good players are now rewarded for being involved in action. It is no longer as attractive to play excessively tight.
2) Weaker players are credited with more rake. The increased value that these players now represent give higher incentives for affiliates to attract recreational players and allocate additional funds which sites can invest into marketing and acquisition.
Conclusion and comparison
Dealt rake is a much more attractive looking model for most regular players. Since it gives higher amounts of rake to tight players, it is favoured by many multi-tablers who benefit from receiving rake from pots which they are not actually involved in. This doesn’t mean however that they will necessarily be at a disadvantage through a change from dealt to weighted contributed.
1) A switch from weighted contributed usually brings looser games with it. Since rooms can invest more heavily into attracting fish – good players can benefit with increases in their winrate.
2) Loose aggressive player will be able to benefit from the switch and can further loosen up their game.
3) Tight players can also open their ranges and get involved in more pots.
4) The switch is good for long-term room ecology. Affiliates and operators need to increase their focus on creating environments in which recreational players feel at home and continue to regularly deposit. Weighted contributed is a better suited model than dealt for providing such an environment. This is good for winning players, since it means that rooms will continue to invest into growth in the future.
