A Rake Race is a competition to generate more rake, or rake more hands than other players on a particular poker site, in a given timeframe (the rake race period). Points are allocated to particpants in a rake race depending on either the number of hands a player rakes (in a raked hand race), or the value of the rake from the hands which the player has played (a contributed rake race).

Rake Race Types

There are two main types of rake race:

• Contribution Based Rake Race: the amount of rake generated by the player counts towards that player’s leaderboard standing, with a specific amount of points being awarded for raking one unit in the poker room’s default currency. The key to winning is to rake more money for the poker room than your oppontents in the rake-race.
• Volume Based Rake Race: the number of hands the player plays counts towards the player’s leaderboard standing. The amount of rake generated is irrelevant. This type of race is optimal for players who play a lot of volume, but don’t play so high that they will rake the poker site cap for rake in most pots.

Rake Race Payouts

Rake race leaderboards pay out 20-50 people usually, sometimes even the top 100 raking players are paid, so there is plenty of incentive to play (however just like a tournament payout structure, the bulk of the money to be won is at the top of the ladder). The prizes are lucrative, with some rake races paying up to €30,000 to the winner!

Biggest Rake Races

Ladbrokes poker recently launched a $1,000,000 rake race, lasting three months, and awarding the winning player $20,000 each month.

Rake Race Strategy

Some tips to avoid burnout, going busto, or going insane while playing in a rake race include:

• Multi-Table
• Play on tables where you can rake the network cap of rake
• Play on Loose Tables
• Use a HUD (eg PT3, HEM)
• Watch the Leaderboard
• Don’t Burn Out
• Get a Rakeback or a Loyalty Program for the site running the rake race (Note: all of the links on rakerace.co.uk offer these where possible.)

Read our Rake Race Strategy Guide for detailed hints and suggestions.

Where can I find rake races

RakeRace.co.uk will always list the current and upcoming rake races, as well as monthly rake-races. We sometimes run exclusive rake-races (non-network wide, private rake races for members of rakerace.co.uk only) - so ensure that you join our mailing list (on our homepage), or bookmark and visit the site regularly to keep up with the latest promotions and rake-races.