People always state that Stars / UB's rake is lower than Party, and that's one of the reasons they play at those sites. That is simply not true.
Here are links to the three rake charts for comparison:
http://www.partypoker.com/games/rake.html
http://www.pokerstars.com/rake.html
http://www.ultimatebet.com/rules-strategy/rake.html
In regards to PL / NL, the rake structure is the same across all three sites, 5¢ / $1. Even though it's not listed correctly on the site, Party's rake is actually capped at $2 for the NL 6-max tables. Stars and UB don't offer shorthanded NL tables so I can't compare (although shorthanded NL is a very profitable game [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]).
I do concede that the rake
is higher for Party .5/1 and 1/2 limit. They rake 50¢ at $5 and 75¢ at $12 compared to Stars' 25¢ / 50¢ and UB's 20¢ / 60¢ respectively. Keep in mind though that Party rakes at $5 / $12 / $20 intervals as opposed to $5 / $10 / $15 / $20 intervals. I don't think the $15 interval makes enough of a difference to tip the scales in their favor though.
At each level:
.5/1 - Stars rocks, UB sucks (they rake 10¢ / $2), Party sucks the most.
1/2 - Party has an advantage with $10-$11 pots, disadvantage with $12-$14 pots, otherwise it's the same as the other two sites.
2/4 - Stars is the big winner by only raking every $20. Party comes in second raking 50¢ / $10. UB loses raking 25¢ / $5.
3/6 (and 4/8) - Stars still comes out first. Party and UB are equal.
5/10 through 10/20 - Stars and UB are tied for first, Party is still raking every $10.
15/30 and above - UB comes out ahead, they rake less at the biggest intervals. Party comes in second because they increase the rake interval just a bit. Stars is last, almost guaranteeing a $3 rake if there's a flop.
However in general, most people agree that Party is the softer site compared to the other two. I just don't see a reason to play at another site
simply because of rake. Of course software, customer support, tournament structure and selection are other factors to consider.
I don't play limit so I can't give any numbers, but if possible could some of tell us how much table rake paid per range of hands? In PT -> Game Notes -> Get All. Make sure you only select one level.
For a NL comparison, $6,200 was raked over my last 10.5k hands at Party NL100 6-max.