Do you take rake when hosting a game? (1 Viewer)

[Gunnar]

I’m noticing some responses from people outside the US. My perspective on this conversation has been mostly legal. It’s definitely illegal to take a rake in the US. States tax the hell out of casinos which is the entire reason then have these laws. In Pennsylvania I think they take 58% of a casinos profit. That’s a high tax bill in the US for anything and the states want all that money.

Is it legal in other country’s to take a poker game?

In Iceland this is a gray area, it is legal to play for money, it is legal to pay fixed fee for seat or location. Taking rake or the house getting a cut of bets is not legal. When it comes to poker no one cares but if you would run a blackjack and roulette table then you are in trouble.

Tournament with fixed house fees are legal but cash games where percent of the pot is taken away could be classified as Illegal

 

[Mushmanchuman]

My first experience with a serious raked private game was during Covid. All 3 Detroit casinos were shut down at the time.

I sold a table to a guy who then invited me to his game. He was running 3 tables in a basement with dealers, snacks, massage chick for a $1 a min, drinks and he even had gum. The game was 1/2 match the stack with a $5 rock that played on the button and UTG.

I believe they had a minimum rake of $5 and a max of $10. This was making the standard open to be larger than the 1/2 games downtown. It was real splashy with a great mix of newer regs and quite a few Macomb county shit regs.

The game was profitable for quite a few weeks. I only played 4-5 times but I walked out over 1k twice and lost a huge pot, +700 effective for me.

Once the casinos opened the guy still ran his game. I went there one more time and all the fun players went back to the casino and it was just the regs. And by regs I mean these were the players that already have been banned from the casinos or something. I couldn’t understand why they were playing in a game with a $10 rake when the casino is open and the perks are way better than the private game could offer.

He said he netted about 1-2 grand a night from the rake.

 

[JustinInMN]

I believe they had a minimum rake of $5 and a max of $10. This was making the standard open to be larger than the 1/2 games downtown. It was real splashy with a great mix of newer regs and quite a few Macomb county shit regs.

Wow, that rake is brutal, even with free gum.

But glad it was a good enough game to show a profit. But it's a good observation on your part the "fun" players prefer the casino in your area.

He said he netted about 1-2 grand a night from the rake.

I believe that. He's probably generating near $200/hour/table with a $10 max drop. 3 tables for 4 hours should easily hit $2K.

 

[Machine]

He said he netted about 1-2 grand a night from the rake.

He lied.

I believe that. He's probably generating near $200/hour/table with a $10 max drop. 3 tables for 4 hours should easily hit $2K.

yeah I wasn't going to say anything, With Holdem the rake goes so fast. 18 to 22 hands an hour is easy, thats 270 an hour with min rake min hands.

 

[louBdub]

9 kids show up to Timmys house.

Timmy let’s them all in to play video games.

10 kids playing video games together, fun. Memories. Smiles.

But one day, Timmy decides all of the kids playing video games with him, will now pay him $5/hr for their spot.

Timmy is a c*nt.

Don’t be like Timmy.

 

[JustinInMN]

He lied.

yeah I wasn't going to say anything, With Holdem the rake goes so fast. 18 to 22 hands an hour is easy, thats 270 an hour with min rake min hands.

Indeed, I am guessing he probably wasn't at 3 tables 100% of the time. And I can say I was probably estimating way on the conservative side aside from that. If he also said "net" he might have meant after paying for the dealers, snacks, and deluxe chewing gum .

But yes, if he can do 3 tables for 4 hours a night, he should probably *gross* over 3K at that rake. If it's just one table, then about a grand for the evening seems about right.

 

[doublebooyah85]

I don’t mind playing games they have a rake as long as the action is good enough/and it’s safe. It’s one of several criteria’s when determining game selection.

Personally, I don’t rake, and would prefer no rake, but every game is different.

And the only people in NE ohio to get charged w having a rake (with my limited knowledge) was vegas night charity operators about a decade ago in the Akron area that got too greedy and ran 52 weekends a year Thur-Sunday. They pulled in millions but also had the receipts they donated millions to charities FWIW. This was during the poker boom. Even before tbh.

 

[NotRealNameNoSir]

9 kids show up to Timmys house.

Timmy let’s them all in to play video games.

10 kids playing video games together, fun. Memories. Smiles.

But one day, Timmy decides all of the kids playing video games with him, will now pay him $5/hr for their spot.

Timmy is a c*nt.

This can be said about an awful lot of business owners!

Timmy is a hustler, his friends are free-loaders and they never bring their own Capri-Sun. They leave the door open, AC bill goes through the roof, Timmy eats that bill? Huh? Cause Timmy is a warm and convivial HOST?!? Is Timmy gonna pay for his retirement IN FUN, MEMORIES, AND SMILES? What about when Sammy Spittle wins big in Mario Kart and damages Timmy's controller, is that still FUN, MEMORIES, AND SMILES? He's providing a SER-VICE, marone.

 

[louBdub]

This can be said about an awful lot of business owners!

Timmy is a hustler, his friends are free-loaders and they never bring their own Capri-Sun. They leave the door open, AC bill goes through the roof, Timmy eats that bill? Huh? Cause Timmy is a warm and convivial HOST?!? Is Timmy gonna pay for his retirement IN FUN, MEMORIES, AND SMILES? What about when Sammy Spittle wins big in Mario Kart and damages Timmy's controller, is that still FUN, MEMORIES, AND SMILES? He's providing a SER-VICE, marone.

 

[TheJestyr]

This can be said about an awful lot of business owners!

Timmy is a hustler, his friends are free-loaders and they never bring their own Capri-Sun. They leave the door open, AC bill goes through the roof, Timmy eats that bill? Huh? Cause Timmy is a warm and convivial HOST?!? Is Timmy gonna pay for his retirement IN FUN, MEMORIES, AND SMILES? What about when Sammy Spittle wins big in Mario Kart and damages Timmy's controller, is that still FUN, MEMORIES, AND SMILES? He's providing a SER-VICE, marone.

Plus, one time a friend brought a friend and next thing you knew games were missing…and then one time, a kid slipped on Timmy’s driveway during the bad ice storm of ‘89 and the kid’s mom sued Timmy and his parents…

Three of Timmy’s closest buddies come over and play some 2v2 Nintendo 64? Free, but don’t take advantage of Timmy cuz he’s got cool stuff.

9 guys come over, eat his food, piss all over his floor, you can bet his mom’s gonna be PISSED!


OK, so ultimately what I’m really saying is I love raked games. I also love no rake games. But they’re very different. My buddies and I play 5c/10c and goof around and maybe get 12 hands an hour in, but we drink, smoke cigars, and BS all night. I’m HAPPY to provide food and whatever for that.

But when I’m looking to play a more serious game, I want there to be security guards. I want great dealers with awesome food, chip and convenience runners, masseuses, crazy action, etc…and a lot of these players don’t want to set foot into casinos for tax purposes, so they gravitate towards home games that are raked.

I know this is a touchy subject and we all have different opinions on poker, but ultimately, I learned a LONG time ago that I don’t like winning my friends’ money. I’ve been blessed with more than most, and $200 to me is very different than $200 to my friends. A few times a year we get together and play low stakes, but the night easily costs me about $1k in food, beverage, silly giveaways, etc. The $40 I can win or lose at the game doesn’t matter in this situation. But I really enjoy bigger games. Games that are usually much larger than the local casino can pull. I play poker for the strategy and to escape from reality a bit. I have very few true “friends” in the poker world, and I VERY rarely feel bad winning or losing large amounts in those settings.

 

[ekricket]

This can be said about an awful lot of business owners!

Timmy is a hustler, his friends are free-loaders and they never bring their own Capri-Sun. They leave the door open, AC bill goes through the roof, Timmy eats that bill? Huh? Cause Timmy is a warm and convivial HOST?!? Is Timmy gonna pay for his retirement IN FUN, MEMORIES, AND SMILES? What about when Sammy Spittle wins big in Mario Kart and damages Timmy's controller, is that still FUN, MEMORIES, AND SMILES? He's providing a SER-VICE, marone.

Plus, one time a friend brought a friend and next thing you knew games were missing…and then one time, a kid slipped on Timmy’s driveway during the bad ice storm of ‘89 and the kid’s mom sued Timmy and his parents…

Three of Timmy’s closest buddies come over and play some 2v2 Nintendo 64? Free, but don’t take advantage of Timmy cuz he’s got cool stuff.

9 guys come over, eat his food, piss all over his floor, you can bet his mom’s gonna be PISSED!


OK, so ultimately what I’m really saying is I love raked games. I also love no rake games. But they’re very different. My buddies and I play 5c/10c and goof around and maybe get 12 hands an hour in, but we drink, smoke cigars, and BS all night. I’m HAPPY to provide food and whatever for that.

But when I’m looking to play a more serious game, I want there to be security guards. I want great dealers with awesome food, chip and convenience runners, masseuses, crazy action, etc…and a lot of these players don’t want to set foot into casinos for tax purposes, so they gravitate towards home games that are raked.

I know this is a touchy subject and we all have different opinions on poker, but ultimately, I learned a LONG time ago that I don’t like winning my friends’ money. I’ve been blessed with more than most, and $200 to me is very different than $200 to my friends. A few times a year we get together and play low stakes, but the night easily costs me about $1k in food, beverage, silly giveaways, etc. The $40 I can win or lose at the game doesn’t matter in this situation. But I really enjoy bigger games. Games that are usually much larger than the local casino can pull. I play poker for the strategy and to escape from reality a bit. I have very few true “friends” in the poker world, and I VERY rarely feel bad winning or losing large amounts in those settings.

Fucking lawyers ruin everything

 

[Mushmanchuman]

Wow, that rake is brutal, even with free gum.

But glad it was a good enough game to show a profit. But it's a good observation on your part the "fun" players prefer the casino in your area.


I believe that. He's probably generating near $200/hour/table with a $10 max drop. 3 tables for 4 hours should easily hit $2K.

As far as “fun” players I just mean rec players all the way thru grinders and pros. They will play anywhere, especially when shit was closed down. But they want the biggest stakes and best perks. When there’s a rake usually the casino is the top dog. Unless there’s all the stuff you can’t have in the casino. Drugs, girls, hunks, more privacy/ intimate setting, know everyone/people have been “vetted”, location- they don’t have to drive and they wanna get wasted.

I know this game retained players long run because they played match the stack. Last game I went to I got there on time and everyone bought in for $300 max to start. Myself included. First orbit was a 3 way all in and winner now had 850. Every player pulled out money and bought up to the 850 or whatever he had. Except me.

That’s when I knew the profitable players went back to the recently open casinos.



They wouldn’t collect the rake until it was entire rack of 5’s. I saw a full rack pick up at each of the 3 tables each the nights I ran well. Plus I was coming from work which meant I was getting there after they have been playing for hours.

It was a wild game full of dealers that frequent the charity rooms on the Eastside. They played like maniacs.

I limp jam aces utg to the guy on my direct left. He makes it $25 I jam $200 he calls with kings.

Few hands later guy jams with 8’s into my kings. He flopped a set, everyone cheered! I turned a King and the place went nuts. I drag the pot.

Few hands later a young, mid 20’s male to my direct right is wasted on pills. I nudged him awake and said he might be flashing his cards when he looks at them. In one ear, out the other, literally, I watched the words go straight thru his head.

I’m bb and have T7 Pill head and guy I felted with 8’s are in the hand. Pill head decides to show me his KT. Straight up picked up his hand to look, again and I thought half the table saw as well, it was so bad, but sorry bro I already told you once and I can’t not play the hand I’m in.

Flop comes AJ7. First player checks, lil xan checks his gutter and I made it, say $20. Both players call!

Turn and river both blanks. Nobody improves and he doesn’t make his straight. Other guy I’m sure has me dead to rights and I shoulda bet a lot more instead of value betting on the river. I remember betting real small hoping pill guy would look me up and I thought the first player would fold cuz he looked like he has air.

Both make crying calls and I table a very measly pair of 7’s.

Both opponents table KT off. I win and everyone gave me a lot of respect after that. It didn’t feel the best but hey. After the hand I told him he is flashing his hand.

 

[TomC727]

I don’t mind playing games they have a rake as long as the action is good enough/and it’s safe. It’s one of several criteria’s when determining game selection.

Personally, I don’t rake, and would prefer no rake, but every game is different.

And the only people in NE ohio to get charged w having a rake (with my limited knowledge) was vegas night charity operators about a decade ago in the Akron area that got too greedy and ran 52 weekends a year Thur-Sunday. They pulled in millions but also had the receipts they donated millions to charities FWIW. This was during the poker boom. Even before tbh.

So my question to you, and to everyone else here who don’t mind raked games is this.

What is considered a safe raked game? And the raked game can be safe for weeks, and maybe years, until it isn’t, and this can possibly happen in a blink of an eye.

 

[doublebooyah85]

So my question to you, and to everyone else here who don’t mind raked games is this.

What is considered a safe raked game? And the raked game can be safe for weeks, and maybe years, until it isn’t, and this can possibly happen in a blink of an eye.

Totally. Can never be too safe. Always open yourself to being robbed/compromised.

 

[TheJestyr]

So my question to you, and to everyone else here who don’t mind raked games is this.

What is considered a safe raked game? And the raked game can be safe for weeks, and maybe years, until it isn’t, and this can possibly happen in a blink of an eye.

I won’t go super in depth, but a few of the biggies are a double door system, ideally second floor location, armed guards, full camera system, and people with good reputations running the game.

Honestly I’ve played in high limit games in casinos and haven’t felt nearly as safe as I do at some home games. You can have “security” escort you to your vehicle at casinos, but most times they’re aren’t fully armed nor have much training. Home games can offer superior protection in many cases.

Can home games get robbed? Sure. Can they get raided? Absolutely. But like I said, I personally feel safer in some of the home games vs being downtown at the casino.

Now an ideal situation for me is a back room poker game at a casino, but very few places offer that. I don’t like the public being able to walk by and see hundreds of thousands on the table. Not to mention I don’t like when some of my friends and family see that. I try to keep my finances quiet overall. And I know some celebrities and athletes who would rather play in safe home games than be out in public at a casino.

 

[TomC727]

I won’t go super in depth, but a few of the biggies are a double door system, ideally second floor location, armed guards, full camera system, and people with good reputations running the game.

Honestly I’ve played in high limit games in casinos and haven’t felt nearly as safe as I do at some home games. You can have “security” escort you to your vehicle at casinos, but most times they’re aren’t fully armed nor have much training. Home games can offer superior protection in many cases.

Can home games get robbed? Sure. Can they get raided? Absolutely. But like I said, I personally feel safer in some of the home games vs being downtown at the casino.

Now an ideal situation for me is a back room poker game at a casino, but very few places offer that. I don’t like the public being able to walk by and see hundreds of thousands on the table. Not to mention I don’t like when some of my friends and family see that. I try to keep my finances quiet overall. And I know some celebrities and athletes who would rather play in safe home games than be out in public at a casino.

Armed security helps with the criminal element. I’m also extremely concerned that a pissed off player would end up tipping law enforcement off and the game gets raided, and then all involved are jammed up in the legal system.

Hell, look what happened to the Texas players at a poker club in that thread. Frickin’ awful.

 

[TheJestyr]

Oh I’m definitely not saying there’s not risks, in many ways I know what I do is stupid. It’s just figuring if the risk outweighs the reward. I do what I can to mitigate the risk and still make playing worth it.

And I must fully admit, now that I’ve had kids (5, 3, and 1 year old) I’m MUCH less likely to put myself into as stupid of situations as I used to.

It used to be the only way you could play in games around our area was to play in home games, or you’re driving 3+ hours to a casino for a long wait list and fairly low limit game. I guess I just got comfortable with playing in bigger home games starting around 20 years ago, and while there’s other options, my favorite games still tend to be big home games.

 

[Natskule]

I don't consider many of these games "home games".

Home games, usually at somebody's home, smaller stakes, no rake, friends and family, know everybody, host is playing, you play to win but it isn't the primary goal of the night, having a good time is

Private games, players have to be invited or a member, ran for profit so either a rake or seat fee, know most of the players, play to win, it's the goal

Casino or Card Room, open to the public, most players are strangers, ran for profit, there to win money

 

[TheJestyr]

I don't consider many of these games "home games".

Home games, usually at somebody's home, smaller stakes, no rake, friends and family, know everybody, host is playing, you play to win but it isn't the primary goal of the night, having a good time is

Private games, players have to be invited or a member, ran for profit so either a rake or seat fee, know most of the players, play to win, it's the goal

Casino or Card Room, open to the public, most players are strangers, ran for profit, there to win money

I agree that the term “home game” is a loose term, but it’s meant to be ambiguous on purpose…it’s the usual term used when discussing in public as to not incriminate oneself or others. Kinda like Chilean sea bass vs Patagonian toothfish…much more palatable as sea bass

 

[TomC727]

I agree that the term “home game” is a loose term, but it’s meant to be ambiguous on purpose…it’s the usual term used when discussing in public as to not incriminate oneself or others. Kinda like Chilean sea bass vs Patagonian toothfish…much more palatable as sea bass

Yes!!!!

Off topic - Same has Mahi Mahi. Dolphinfish doesn’t sound as fancy - though some people would avoid it because they actually would think they are eating Flipper.

 

[merkong]

I’ll reiterate; no rake. Our crew provides varying gratuities that satisfy the Food and Refreshment Commitee.

We did make a hire to watch over our the gratuity receptacle in the Donkey Lounge.

He’s a Rebel with a Cause. Tips.