Rake is the amount of money that a poker room deducts from pots in cash games or from tournament buy-ins in order to run the games. Poker is a game of skill where players compete against each other and not against the game operator like in the case of blackjack, roulette or other similar games.
That's why poker rooms have to charge players a small amount of money to pay for the servers and other similar upkeep costs, make sure that games run smoothly, award some of the rake money back to the dedicated players via various promotions and of course make some profit in the process.
Which Cash Game Pots are Raked?
At HighStakes we rake the cash game pots only when at least one preflop reraise (or 3bet) has occurred and/or a flop was dealt. There's no rake deducted from single raised pots that end preflop.
Rake Method: PVI (Player Value Index)
HighStakes uses a proprietary rake method based on the PVI (Player Value Index). Every HighStakes player receives a rating between 0 and 2, that's based on the scores on each game, with an individual weighting in accordance with the GG Network rules:
- 1.5.1. Hold’em and Omaha scores are determined by CHB Index, Swing Index, Potsize Index, etc.
- 1.5.2. All-in or Fold score is determined by All-In Index, Jackpot Index, Winloss Index, etc.
- 1.5.3. Fortune Spin score is determined by Cookie Index, CHB Index, Ticket Index.
- 1.5.4. Tournament score is determined by Overlay Index, Satellite Index, Buyin Index, and Skill Index.
- 1.5.5. All scores are subject to change.
This PVI is then used to allocate Rake between Participating Operators. The Rake for each Hand is allocated to the Participating Operator per that Participating Operator's Player, in the ratio of that Player's PVI times Rake for the session.
