The poker industry is growing larger and larger, day by day. Everyone is running around from poker site to poker site trying to find the best bonus promotion or the best freeroll tournament. For many players it is all about getting the most amount of value out of their poker experience. Now there is a new beginning. It is called RakeBack!

For those in the know, RakeBack is not an entirely new term; however it is trying to be obscured by the poker industry as a whole. They don't want you to know about it! But alas Rakeback is now gaining prominence, day by day. Just like poker bonuses exploded, rakeback is now gaining similar momentum!

But what is it and does it benefit the poker player?

First we must understand what the Rake is so that I can then explain what rakeback is. Rake is a commission that is taken from most hands that you play by the poker room where you are playing at. Usually the amount of rake taken is anywhere from 10%-1% depending on what stakes you are playing at, the size of the pot, and the poker room you are playing at.

Let me give you an example: Let's say that there is a total pot of $10, and the poker room takes 5%. That means that the poker room will take 50cents. So if there were 2 players then 25cents would have been each person's personal contribution.

Normally the rake is either taken 100% by the poker room (and used to pay you bonuses) or shared between the poker room and the affiliate that referred you! Consider that an average table may play about 60 hands an hour. Think about how much they can make.

Now I will cover rake back:

RakeBack is an amount given back to a player from the amount that HE/SHE personally put into the pot.

Let's say that a player is getting a 25% rakeback. That means that for every $1 that the poker room earns from them, they get 25 cents back! So great, now the affiliate is making less profit off you, the poker room is making less profit off you and the player is getting in on the share. It's looking real good for the poker player now!!!

The poker industry is adapting to the demands of the poker player. Especially to the ones that play many hours a week. They want to be rewarded on a continual basis and not want to jump from room to room looking for another better bonus.

RakeBack is a way for them to capitalize on their play by earning some of the money back on each and every hand they play.

Does every poker room offer rakeback?

Currently, no. Most poker rooms do not want to share their profits in this way with their players. So if you are looking for a rakeback deal then it is important to hunt around and find the best deal. Once you do then you can be happy as you won't be bonus hunting around everywhere and you will finally be rewarded for the long hours of play that you put in.

So in summary, you now know that poker rooms are making a lot off of rake and that they would prefer you not to be getting rakeback deals. You know that they are out there however. So if you are playing poker I would suggest forgetting about the bonus hunting and go straight for a good rakeback deal. Don't let them take more money off you than they need to!