Online cardrooms rake too much for their own good

[Awesemo]

There is a distinct relationship between the change in population of an online site and the amount of rake charged per pot. This is intuitively true considering that as players bust out of the site, they are less likely to buy back in. This has an effect on the overall amount of profit of the site. Is it possible that online poker sites charge too much rake for their own profit? If this was true, the change to compensate would be a benefit to the whole poker community.

The image I have for online poker is put well by Snoop Dogg, "Paid tha cost to be da boss." There is a definite learning curve for playing profitable poker. The higher the rake, the steeper the learning curve. If the rake of online sites was lowered, the population would grow at a much faster rate. This would be great for online poker in general. I think Dutch Boyd is on the right track with his venture Rakefree.com. However, I think that the best step for the poker community would be a currently popular online site lowering its rake. Online poker seems to me like an oligopoly. All of the websites have approximately the same rake structures. If one site lowered theirs, it would cause the other sites to lower as a reaction.

If the rake in poker rooms were lowered, it would benefit everybody. Online poker rooms would have more players and the total rake could be optimized. The overall quality of players at the sites would diminish. Let's push for lowered rake structures in the new year.

[The4Aces]

i dont think the average player pays attention to the rake or even compares the rakes at diffrent sites. They see poker on TV or hear there friends talking about it and then they want to get in on the action. The above average player just fallows where the easiest games are. therefore I think that rake doesnt matter. The only thing that matters is advertiseing and diffrent types of games/tournamnets that the average player wants to play.

[ThePinkBunny]

As many have stated in the past...

" All of the websites have approximately the same rake structures. If one site lowered theirs, it would cause the other sites to lower as a reaction. "

This assertion is false. Most bad players don't choose a site based on rake structure. Most good players choose a site based on where bad players play.

[Uglyowl]

People still buy scratch tickets by the fistful with a rake of
around 50%. Online poker is a bargain!

[lehighguy]

Fishy don't care. He knows he's not an expert when he sits down. He expects to lose money. If he thinks hes some hot shot because he caught some lucky variance then he doesn't care about rake. After all fishy just made $500 in a few hours, who cares about a few bucks. Hes gonna be a millionare in like one year anyway at this rate. Why switch to low rake site x. Party has so many people. He can always find a game there.

[Awesemo]

I don't think that many people are fish in the sense of the word you're using. More than half of people would be winning players if there was no rake at all. If these people were consistantly winning, would they quit? I doubt it. And guess what? We make money off of these people on the margin!

[Awesemo]

The average player is also gonna play longer and more if they don't lose all their money because of the rake. My whole point is that when the average player is drawn to these sites, they are less likely to quit.

[Awesemo]

The implications of your statements are ridiculous. Would a fish be so stupid to play at a site that takes 50% of the pot? Rational people think on the margin. If there is one site that is offering a better deal than the others, they will choose that one. This idea could easily be expressed through advertisements on tv, and I see no reason why a site with a lower rake would not grow at a much faster rate than the already existing sites.

[Awesemo]

I would like the emphasize this fact. POKER SITES MAY NOT BE RUNNING AT OPTIMAL RAKE. The rake percentages should not be an arbitrary value of 5% but rather one that maximizes the total population times the rake. A reduction in this rate could feasibly reduce the amount of money that players pay for a site, but increase their profits.

[The4Aces]

there is probably a threshold that people have. Like they dont care if it is anything below a certian amount. Just like people have thresholds on things they buy. More people would buy something that cost $19.99 than the exact same thing costing $20.05. Same things probably holds true to poker rake