Rakeback has lately become a true buzz word in the online poker industry. Many of you are probably already familiar with this term but to satisfy the curiosity of those of you who are not we will start from the beginning.

The rake is a fee deducted from each pot. If you play a real money poker hand online you pay an equal share of the rake as your opponents, regardless if you win the pot or fold before the flop. Usually the rake is set at about five percent of the pot but the rake is usually capped at $3. The rake is basically how a poker room gets compensated for offering players the opportunity to play poker online.

Most players spend very little time thinking about the rake, probably because it seems like an insignificant number at first. However, when you play hundreds and thousands of hands, your rake contributions start to add up. Even if you are a fairly busy small stakes player you might end up paying over $1000 in rake each month.

And it is because it creates a solution to this problem that rakeback has become so popular lately. Many poker rooms offer new players the opportunity to get a large share of their rake back. The poker rooms are doing this to come out ahead in the war that rages in the online poker industry today for new poker players.

Normally you can expect to get between 25 to 35 percent of your rake back but if you pay a lot of rake, some poker rooms give you up to 60 percent of your rake back. For many of you this will translate into several hundred dollars each month straight into your poker account. Poker Rakeback has simply made it easier to be a winning poker player.