Rake race

A Rake race is a competition to generate more rake than other players on a particular online poker site in a given timeframe. Points are allocated to participants 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 generation and scoring

What is considered as rake for rake-races is any rake generated during the qualifying period via either cash games, also known as ring games and also the via fees for participation in poker tournaments (which is collected as an entrance fee). The tournament rake may be displayed by showing the tournament buy-in as $50+$5, with the $5 being counted as rake.

Players are allocated points on a leaderboard according to their rake contribution or the number of hands they raked during the competition period. The leaderboard is usually viewable on the web-site of the poker room hosting the rake race, and is updated either hourly or daily.

Prizes

Rake races vary in prizes, the number of payouts and structure. Online poker room Ladbrokes ran the largest rake race to date, with $1,000,000 in the prizepool in a rake race which lasted three months. $20,000 was the prize for the winner.