Beating the Rake (live and online)

[TMax]

I'm not sure if this was addressed before, but I just heard Phil Helmut talk about how he thinks the $2/$1 cash games in Vegas are a suckers game because of the rake structure. He says you can't win in those. Does anyone know how the math works out on that?

If the rake is a percentage of the total pot, why would it be more beatable on the higher limits?

Does online play have a similar disadvantage in the lower limit games?

What are your thoughts on beating the rake?

[scrawnybob]

hi

he's talking about playing the higher staked games ...

as the rake is capped then % wise the rake becomes a smaller percentage at higher stakes than at low stakes

pro player in casinos would argue that below a certain level of stakes players are grinding out to keep ahead of the rake and make a very marginal profit

if the player had more bankroll and could play slightly higher limits the rake as a % would be lower and the players equally (or possibly even more) easy to beat

of course the rake online is less than in a live game - but the principle is the same although most people pay less rake than they actually think online

cheers scrawnybob

[nomad956]

choosing sites, and turbos/non turbos. Everyone has there favorite sites, but just doing a lil shopping around at sites, could make all the difference in paying a quarter to a dollar, for tournament fees and rake. Different sites have different rates, adn also paying attention to teh comp programs also can give u an advantage in the rake. Another small way to help with the rake, is for instance at pokerstars; if playing mostly tourneys, look into buying $T and $W from other sites and players. Sometimes u may only save a few cents on each dollar, but every penny saved is an extra penny that helps ur profit margin. When playing hundreds of tourneys these cents add up drastically. Gl2a at the tables. nomad956

[luzipher]

Originally Posted by TMax

I'm not sure if this was addressed before, but I just heard Phil Helmut talk about how he thinks the $2/$1 cash games in Vegas are a suckers game because of the rake structure. He says you can't win in those. Does anyone know how the math works out on that?

There isn't maths out there that can prove you can't win. In fact maths can be used to prove that you always can win if rake isn't an absurde %.

scrawnybob gave us a good explanation about was Phil Hellmuth said.