$3 billion in rakes
 

From Barron's last week...
04 gross revenues for all las vegas strip casinos=$5bill
04 gross revenues for all internet poker sites =$3bill (they note that this might be low)
this means the bottom line for int poker is prob higher, since margins are clearly high.

guys,this means that we paid $3 bill in rakes last year. that is 30,000*100,000.

with this much taken off the table, there is no way that more than 10% of internet players are LT winners.

as a finance guy, to me it is reminscent of the literature on stock options, which are a zero-sum game (or a negative sum after one accounts for commissions and, often huge, bid-ask spreads). the best studies there suggest that LESS than 10% of active option market participants make money.

$3bill. most of us have made some people very rich, while wasting a lot of our time to make a fairly trivial amount of money (if any).

Re: $3 billion in rakes
 

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guys,this means that we paid $3 bill in rakes last year. that is 30,000*100,000.

with this much taken off the table, there is no way that more than 10% of internet players are LT winners.

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I don't see how you come to your conclusion. if industry rakes were $2.5B, would 20% of people be LT winners? how are you correlating these numbers?

Re: $3 billion in rakes
 

I don't think the exact numbers probably are accurate, but the general idea is.

Basically a lot of peopel are spending hours and hours playing ("wasting" a lot of time) to lose a lot of money or to win a little or break even.

The number of people making serious money is very low. Without any rake, the number of poeple making money would be higher, but with that much rake being taken, not many people can be winners. It's probably impossible to really calculate this though, unless you knew the average loser's loss, how many players there are who play for real money, etc...

- Tony

Re: $3 billion in rakes
 

" to make a fairly trivial amount of money (if any)."

You need to take a closer look at your game. Sure we make nowhere near what the poker sites make, but I am sure as hell enjoying my new 50 inch LCD HDTV.

Re: $3 billion in rakes
 

Also with the amount of bonuses out there you not only should your rake be nothing....they should be paying you to play!

Re: $3 billion in rakes
 

I think the amounts may be trivial compared to $3billion but that doesn't mean they are trivial for the player.

For example I have played for a living for a year now and I am to the point where I make about $50k a year ($25hr+rake). This is nothing compared to what the sites or others players on here make but signifincant to me.

Re: $3 billion in rakes
 

there are too many variables to define a relation b/w the amount raked and the % of players who win long-term. uglyowl, send me an email at canismd@yahoo.com when you are ready to play 100-200. you will always have a game. i suspect that if most poker players estimated how much they had paid in rakes, their estimate would be way too low. -wins_pot

Re: $3 billion in rakes
 

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there are too many variables to define a relation b/w the amount raked and the % of players who win long-term. uglyowl, send me an email at canismd@yahoo.com when you are ready to play 100-200. you will always have a game. i suspect that if most poker players estimated how much they had paid in rakes, their estimate would be way too low. -wins_pot

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Most players yes. Players on this forum no. Most of us use PT and know exactly how much we pay in rake.

Re: $3 billion in rakes
 

I would say %10 LT winners is a grossly high estimate.Consider all the people that deposit $100 and bust out and say "This shiitt is rigged" never to return.

%2 winners would be my guess.