Why is rake so high, and why isn\'t competition driving it down?
There are more poker sites than there were several years ago, with more players, yet rake remains ridiculously high. If I 4 table 200+15 SNGs that's $60-75 an hour I'm paying in rake. The rake at the online cardrooms is as high as B&M cardrooms but you get none of the amenities. No waiters, free food, friendly staff, comfy seats, etc.
I also play online massively multiplayer roleplaying games where they charge $15 a month for unlimited play. Online games like Guild Wars charge nothing for unlimited play. These games have large development costs and high maintenance costs yet still charge far less than 1% of what I pay Party/Stars each month. What's going on here and why aren't there competing sites doing anything about it? I imagine you could profitably run a site with 1/4 the rake or less, especially if you get massive volume like Party.
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