What Is Rakeback?
The short version: you're already paying a fee every hand — this is how you get some of it back.
Every time you play a cash hand or enter a tournament, the poker room takes a small cut — called rake in cash games, or a fee baked into tournament buy-ins. It's how poker rooms make money; it's completely normal, and every site does it. What most recreational players don't know is that a meaningful chunk of that fee can come back to you — through the room's own loyalty program, through an affiliate deal like this one, or both stacked together. You keep playing exactly the same way, on the same games, for the same stakes — you just stop leaving that money on the table.
A concrete example
Say you play low-stakes cash games a few hours a week. Over a month you might generate somewhere around $150–$400 in total rake, depending on your stakes and volume — money you're paying whether you notice it or not. A site offering, say, 30% rakeback puts $45–$120 of that directly back in your pocket every month, for games you were going to play anyway. Play more, and that number scales up with you.
What exactly is "rake"?
In cash games, it's a small percentage the room takes out of each pot, usually capped at a maximum amount depending on the stakes and how many players are in the hand. In tournaments, it's a fee added on top of the prize-pool portion of your buy-in — e.g. a "$10 + $1" tournament has $1 going to the house. Either way, it's the room's revenue for running the game.
What's the difference between a poker "network" and a poker "site"?
Some brands run their own standalone player pool. Others are "skins" — separately branded sites that all share one combined pool of players and games behind the scenes, run by a parent network. You'll see this a lot on this page: several differently-named rooms are actually the same games and same opponents underneath, just with different branding and loyalty programs layered on top.
Is rakeback actually legitimate, or is it a scam?
It's a standard, publicly documented part of the industry — closer to a cashback credit card than anything shady. Rooms budget for it as a normal cost of attracting and keeping players, and affiliates like TableFinder negotiate additional terms on top of what the room already offers. It's funded by rake you're already paying, not money pulled from nowhere, and it doesn't change your odds, your software, or how the games are dealt.
How do I actually get it?
You sign up through a tracked link — like the ones throughout this site — instead of downloading the app directly or searching for the room yourself. That link is how the room knows to credit your rakeback to you. Or, if you'd rather just talk it through, message me directly on Telegram or Teams and I'll set you up myself. Everything else about how you play stays exactly the same.
There are so many sites — which one do I play?
It depends on your location, since different sites are available in different countries, plus what format you play and what stakes you play at. If you're not sure where to start, message me directly on Telegram or Teams and I'll point you toward whichever site actually fits you best.
Does it cost me anything, or change my odds?
No. Same games, same software, same rake you'd pay regardless of how you signed up. Rakeback is just a portion of that already-existing fee coming back to you afterward, on top of anything the room's own loyalty program pays.
Go deeper
Three short reads that cover everything above properly.
Part 1
What is rake?
Percentages, caps, tournament fees, dealt vs contributed, and how much a normal player actually pays.
Read →Part 2
How rakeback works
Loyalty programs, affiliate deals, why they stack, flat vs tiered, and a worked example.
Read →Part 3
Is rakeback legit?
What's sanctioned, what's against the rules, and the red flags to check before you deposit.
Read →Room by room
What each room pays back
Every loyalty program compared — ceilings, realistic rates, and what a deal adds on top.
Compare rakeback →Ready to see it in action?
Browse rooms with real rakeback terms
Every room I list includes exactly how the rake and rakeback work, plus my own experience playing there.
See the rooms →