Best rakeback and or Bonuses for U.S. players

[Walkerbayist]

Looking for a site other than or better than Carbon Poker to play at. I am from the U.S. and would really like to start off on the best site, 35% rake seems a bit high to me or maybe it's just because I'm new to this. I'm looking for a site that does not take too much rake and also has a decent bonus. Thank you in advance to anyone who can help out with some info. Thanks again.

[Walkerbayist]

Please excuse my question above as far as rakeback percentage. My understanding of rakeback was incorrect.
Ok, so rakeback is the percentage of the rake you get back from the amount the poker site charges you correct?
If that's correct then which U.S. site can i play at that offers back the best percentage. And also how do i find out how much rake each poker site charges, is it a set amount for each site?

[jspill]

Ok, so rakeback is the percentage of the rake you get back from the amount the poker site charges you correct?

correct, the higher the better. the things that all factor in to how high RB is (i.e. how low rake is, how cheap is the price to play) are:

- the RB %
- rake structure (% of pot size, cap sizes, dealt/contributed system)
- effective RB offered by deposit bonus (e.g. if you have to rake $10 to clear every $1 of bonus, that's 10% RB equiv. bonuses on some rooms offer better value-for-money clearing requirements, 30% equiv. or more)
- size of the bonus (the bigger, the longer you have that extra RB equiv.)
- are bonuses deducted from RB (a few rooms do this, which is annoying)
- can you clear the bonus in time, or is it released in sufficiently still increments that you still get decent returns even if you don't clear it all
- same as above for reload bonuses, and how frequent they are
- the site's promotions, how much value they offer
- are there any kind of player points that can be used for bonuses/tournament entries
- amount of freerolls, if you're interested in those tournaments
- extra promotions offered by signing up via an affiliate site

here's a list of the poker room this site offers, sorted so that USA friendly ones are on top - http://www.rakeback.com/poker-rooms/?s=u&o=d

Of those 5, Black Chip/Carbon (both on Merge network) and Cake/Lock (Revolution) have higher rewards than ACR

Luckily I'm from UK and can play on PokerStars but if I was a US citizen I think I'd lean towards the Revolution network, because they use a dealt rake structure, which typically means more RB for players. Have also heard the rake on Merge is high

Plus since it's new they're running a lot of promos and reload bonuses. They don't deduct bonuses from RB, and the deposit bonus clears in small chunks of $5. Usually I'd go for the main skin on a network, the support can be better, so that'd be Lock

revolution has already overtaken merge as the highest player traffic US facing site, and pays rakeback hourly

how do i find out how much rake each poker site charges, is it a set amount for each site?

the rough industry standard is 5% of the pot size up to a max of up to a few dollars, lower at small stakes. in tournaments the buy-in fees should be 10% or less

the exact figures should be pretty easy to find on each room's website, via google, or by emailing support

[Walkerbayist]

Thank you for taking the time out to explain everything, it helped out alot. But if i could bother you once more?

How do rakeback sites make their money and if i join a poker site through one, is there a monthly fee? Also is there a monthly fee to join a poker site or is rake all they charge?

[jspill]

How do rakeback sites make their money

poker sites pay the affiliate sites a revenue share for referring players. the affiliate sites then give a cut of that back to players, as rakeback and/or promotions

if i join a poker site through one, is there a monthly fee?

no monthly fee, it's free

Also is there a monthly fee to join a poker site or is rake all they charge?

no monthly fee to join poker sites, via affiliate sites or otherwise. they only generate revenue from rake, yes

[Walkerbayist]

I really appreciate you taking time out of your day to answer the questions i posted. Thank you very much the information you gave me was very helpful.

[Walkerbayist]

I am having a hard time understanding the deductions made between bonuses and rakeback. Can someone explain to me ( Like i was a 5 year old,lol)how rakeback works with bonuses? Thank you.

[FlipCoach]

I am having a hard time understanding the deductions made between bonuses and rakeback. Can someone explain to me ( Like i was a 5 year old,lol)how rakeback works with bonuses? Thank you.

Basically the rooms give you rakeback as a percentage of your "monthly gross rake" after deductions (which is then Net Rake). So the number for your Net rake is just a formula which the room sets.

Some rooms will use bonuses as a negative in this equation.

Example Room A - you play 50 $10+$1 tournaments with a 30% rakeback deal. Your MGR is 50x$1 = $50, and your rakeback is $50x30% = $15.

Let's say Room B charges deductions. You play 50 $10 +$1 tournaments and clear $5 of your sign up bonus within that time frame. So now your MGR is still $50, but your net rake is $50-$5 = $45.

So in this case with the deductions, your rakeback will be $45x30% = $13.5.

In this example you get less rakeback, BUT you still get more cash back by clearing the bonus because $13.5 + $5 is more than $15.

So it's still better to take advantage of the bonuses even though it will reduce your rakeback.