How much does rake cost in live poker?

First identify how the fee is collected.

A direct timed charge is the simpler case. In a fictional game charging each player USD 8 every 30 minutes, the hourly cost is USD 16. That cost is independent of how many pots you win.

Check whether the stated charge is per player or per table, and how partial periods are billed. The tool’s session total is a prorated estimate; the room may collect whole intervals.

For percentage rake, apply the rule to each eligible pot: fee = min(rate × eligible pot, money cap). Confirm what the room rakes, plus any extra drop, rounding or eligibility rules.

The tool treats one whole paid hand, including side pots, as one cap unit. Use the pre-rake eligible amount, excluding returned uncalled money, and confirm that this matches the room’s collection rule.

A smaller cap in BB does not settle the hourly cost.

Use this custom Macau illustration, not a verified room policy: 5% rake capped at HKD 500. The tool labels it as an example.

BB means one big blind. The same money cap is 5 BB in one game and 2.5 BB in the other. Yet these 50 BB pots each cost 2.5 BB. You need the sizes and frequency of your won raked pots to estimate personal drag.

Apply the cap before averaging.

Continue the fictional HKD 50/100 game. Assume you win 2 raked hands per hour, taking the whole pot. Half have an eligible pot of HKD 1,000 and half HKD 20,000.

In the tool, choose Custom policy, HKD, a big blind of 100, a 5% rate and a money cap of 500. Choose two weighted won-pot buckets and money units; enter 1,000 and 20,000 at 50% each, full attribution, and 2 raked wins/hour.

The fees are HKD 50 and HKD 500. Their weighted average is HKD 275, so personal attributed drag is:

2 wins/hour × HKD 275 = HKD 550/hour = 5.5 BB/hour

Taking 5% of the average pot and capping that answer gives the wrong result here. Cap each pot bucket first, then average its fee.

For a split pot, use the share of the fee attributed to you. Do not divide the table’s total rake equally among its players and call that your exact cost. This model attributes fees in your won pots; it does not measure every effect of removing rake from the game.

Published room examples have dates and conditions.

The following operator pages were checked on 1 November 2026. They are examples of different schedules, not a quote for every table or future visit.

Hippodrome’s page also distinguishes session charges for higher games. Confirm the current game, who pays, collection periods and extra drops with the room; a cap alone is not the whole fee policy.

Start from the right win rate.

If your tracked result comes from actual buy-ins, cash-outs and separately recorded costs, pot rake is already inside that result. Direct fees already deducted from your chips or recorded as expenses are included too.

The rake tool’s already-net setting leaves the entered win rate unchanged. Its before-fees setting subtracts the modeled cost once. State which number you have before comparing rooms or stakes.

Enter your own fee rule and won-pot assumptions →. To keep the underlying session record, GoodRun’s offline tracking workflow is an optional next step.