[Dazarath]

Ugh, this is what I get for skimming through threads. I sincerely apologize for my response and I'll try to read things a little more thoroughly before I post replies like that in the future.

To add to the discussion, I don't think it's so much that player's think it's their "right" to receive some of the rake back. It's just that serious players are trying to obtain the highest +EV deal. Let's take a look at Party and Stars. Party has fishier tables and Stars has lower rake. (I don't know this for a fact, it's just what the general opinion seems to be.) That doesn't matter. What matters is how much I can make per hour playing at each site. Even if Stars completely removed the rake, effectively giving me 100% rakeback, if I earn more playing with the Party fish, I'm going to stay there.

Ok, that's an obvious point. The thing is, once I'm settled at Party, if my options are rakeback or no rakeback, all other things equal, of course I want rakeback. I don't need it; I just prefer it. Let's say all the tables tighten up and a lot of the fish left, cutting my BB/100 in half. If it's still +EV for me to play poker, I'll play. But that's not going to stop me from bitching about the glory days when my BB/100 was something worthwhile.