One of the more common poker terms, the poker rake refers to the house take fee an online poker site charges for the use of its poker server. The rake is the house take from the poker game pot and does not refer to entry fees in tournaments.
Why is poker rake one of the less-than-popular poker terms in our poker glossary? As you know it refers to the amount the house removes from the pot, but don’t worry, it’s typically not much—only 10% of the pot in increments of $0.25 up to a maximum of $3.
In a game with an average pot of $12 the rake would be around $1.25. In games with higher stakes the pot is usually large enough so that the maximum of $3 is withdrawn from every pot.
If everyone folds before the flop, some sites, including Poker-on-Net, don’t charge a rake. This policy is called “no flop no drop.”
