Poker Club Rake: Chips, Caps and Extra Fees Explained
Rake in poker clubs is the fee the club keeps from each pot for hosting the game, and there is no single figure that applies to everyone. Each club or union (a group of clubs that share tables) sets its own terms: percentage, cap, when the rake is taken, and other charges. All the examples in this guide are hypothetical and are meant only for practicing the calculation.
The essentials:
- Rake is a club fee, normally a percentage of the pot with a cap.
- At chip tables, the cap is usually expressed in big blinds (bb), and the value of the chip is set by the club.
- The cap applies per pot, not per player.
- Jackpots, insurance, and rakeback are separate from rake, so ask about each one individually.
- No percentage or cap in this article is a real rate of any specific app, union, or club.
What a club charges and who decides it
Rake is the amount the club takes from the pots (or charges on a tournament buy-in) in exchange for running the table. The club doesn't play against you: you compete against other players, and the fee funds the operation.
The terms are set by each club or by the union it belongs to. Two clubs on the same app can have different percentages, caps and charging rules. That's why it pays to check the terms of the specific table before you sit down, not those of another club someone mentioned to you.
Heads up: don't assume the terms of ClubGG, PPPoker or any other app are the same across all of their clubs. The app provides the software; the terms of each table are set by the club or the union, and agreements with an agent are individual.
Chips and bb: how it's measured at a 1/2 table
At a 1/2 table the big blind is 2 chips, so 1 bb = 2 chips. Many clubs express the cap in bb, so it pays to know how to convert.
The chip is an internal unit of the app or the club. Its value is set by the club, and you shouldn't assume any equivalence with money. The PPPoker terms of service refer to virtual items and virtual currency; read them directly if you use that app.
Percentage and cap: applied to the pot, not to each player
The percentage is taken from the pot and compared with the cap. The club takes the lower amount.
Hypothetical example at a 1/2 table with 5% and a cap of 3 bb (6 chips) per pot:
| Pot (chips) | 5% of the pot | Cap (3 bb = 6 chips) | Rake taken |
|---|---|---|---|
| 40 | 2 chips | 6 | 2 chips (1 bb) |
| 120 | 6 chips | 6 | 6 chips (3 bb) |
| 200 | 10 chips | 6 | 6 chips (3 bb) |
The 40-chip pot generates 2 chips, which is 1 bb. The 200-chip pot would give 10 chips by percentage, but the cap holds it at 6 (3 bb). From a pot of 120 onward, the cap rules and the rake stops growing.
Those 6 chips come out of the pot once; 6 chips are not charged to each player.
Key point: once the cap is reached, rake as a proportion of the pot falls as the pot grows. In small pots the percentage matters; in big pots the cap matters.
Two hypothetical clubs with the same type of table
Compare Club A, with 3% and a cap of 10 bb (20 chips), against Club B, with 5% and a cap of 3 bb (6 chips). 1/2 table, hypothetical example:
| Pot (chips) | Club A: 3%, cap 20 | Club B: 5%, cap 6 |
|---|---|---|
| 100 | 3 chips (1.5 bb) | 5 chips (2.5 bb) |
| 400 | 12 chips (6 bb) | 6 chips (3 bb, cap) |
| 800 | 20 chips (10 bb, cap) | 6 chips (3 bb, cap) |
Club A's lower percentage doesn't always make it cheaper. In the 800-chip pot, 3% would be 24 chips, but the cap limits it to 20. Even so, that's more than triple Club B's 6 chips.
At a pot of 200 both clubs charge the same: 6 chips. Below that point Club A is cheaper; above it, Club B is. If your table is full of small pots, the percentage matters more; if you see a lot of big pots, the cap matters more. What decides it is not just stack depth, but the actual size of the pots and the table rules.
Tip: before comparing two clubs, convert their caps to bb. A 6-chip cap at a 1/2 table and a 6-chip cap at a 2/4 table are not the same limit.
Extra charges: jackpot, insurance and other items
Some clubs add charges on top of the rake. The typical case is a contribution to a jackpot (an accumulating pot paid out for certain hands). Hypothetical scenario: 1 chip per pot goes to the jackpot.
- •If it is charged separately from the rake, a 200 pot would cost 7 chips (6 rake and 1 jackpot).
- •If the club includes it within the cap, the total stays at 6.
The difference looks small, but it repeats on every hand. Don't assume either option: ask whether the cap covers all charges or only the rake, and whether those charges count toward a possible rebate.
All-in insurance is a different product: it has its own rules and is not part of the rake.
When no rake is taken
Many clubs don't take rake in certain situations, but none of these rules is universal:
- •No flop, no drop: if the hand ends before the flop, no rake is taken. Not every club applies this, so confirm it.
- •Uncalled bets: the part of a bet that nobody calls goes back to its owner and normally doesn't count as a contested pot. Ask how the club treats it.
- •Called preflop all-in: this is not the same as everyone folding before the flop. If someone calls, the board is dealt, and at a no flop, no drop table that pot normally does pay rake. Confirm the club's rule.
Heads up: a table that advertises no flop, no drop may have other conditions, such as a minimum pot before rake is taken. Read the full rule, not just the headline.
Advantages and limits of pot rake with a cap
Advantages
- •It is easy to calculate: percentage and cap.
- •The cap limits the cost in big pots.
Limits
- •In small pots the percentage weighs much more than the cap.
- •The real cost depends on extra charges that may not appear in the table's main information.
- •Rules may change depending on the club or the union, and it is worth checking them again.
Tournaments: the fee is included in the buy-in
In a hypothetical 105 = 100 + 5 tournament, 100 chips go to the prize pool and 5 are the fee; the 105 is the total entry. That fee is 4.76% of the total entry (5 divided by 105) and 5% of the contribution to the prize pool (5 divided by 100). Both figures are correct; only the denominator changes, so always compare using the same base.
If you make a re-entry, you pay the full buy-in again: 210 chips in total, of which 10 are fee. Club tournaments may have their own re-entry rules, so read each tournament's announcement.
Pot rake and the rake attributed to you
The club takes the rake from the pot once. If a rebate exists, you need to know how much of that rake is assigned to you, and there are different methods for that:
- •Weighted contributed: proportional split based on what each player put into the pot.
- •Average contributed: equal split among the players who put money into the pot.
- •Dealt: equal split among all the players who were dealt cards.
With the same hands, each method gives a different individual base, even though the pot paid the same amount. None is correct by definition: ask which one applies to your deal.
Rakeback in clubs: it's an agreement, not an app rule
Rakeback is the return of a portion of the rake. In clubs, it exists only if the club or your agent agrees to it with you, and the terms, including the eligible base and any adjustment to it, are set in that agreement. It is not an app condition.
Two practical precautions:
- •Don't subtract the rake twice: if the club's history already shows your net results, the rake has already been deducted.
- •Don't move up in stakes to save on fees: the stake level should depend on your bankroll and your skill level, not on the cap.
Five questions to ask before joining a club
- 1.What are the percentage and the cap, and what unit are they expressed in (chips or bb)?
- 2.Are there extra charges, such as a jackpot, and do they count toward the cap or are they separate?
- 3.Is no flop, no drop applied, and what happens with a called preflop all-in?
- 4.If there is a rebate, which attribution method is used?
- 5.What conditions does that rebate have, and where are they stated in writing?
If you want to get to know the apps before looking for a club, you can find the PPPoker and ClubGG pages in the poker apps catalogue. Those pages describe the app, not the conditions of each club.
Frequently asked questions
Do all clubs on the same app charge the same?
You can't assume so. Each club or union sets its own table terms, and two clubs on the same app can have different percentages, caps, and charges.
Is the cap charged to each player?
No. In the examples in this article, the cap is the maximum the club takes from the entire pot. How it is then attributed among players depends on the method the club uses.
Is the jackpot charge rake?
Not necessarily. It is a separate item that some clubs charge per pot. Whether it counts toward the cap or toward a rebate depends on the club's rules.