Understanding Poker Rake Caps at Every Major Room

## Understanding Poker Rake Caps Rake caps determine the maximum rake taken from any single pot. Understanding caps helps you choose stakes and rooms where your rakeback value is maximized. ## What Are Rake Caps? Most rooms take 3-5% of cash game pots, but only up to a maximum cap. At NL50 with a $2 cap, a $200 pot generates $2 in rake (1%), not $10 (5%). Caps protect players in large pots. ## Cap Structures by Room Caps vary significantly between rooms and stakes. GGPoker and PokerStars generally have competitive cap structures. ACR's caps are slightly higher at some stakes. Compare cap schedules in our room review pages. ## Impact on Your Rakeback Higher caps mean more total rake generated, which means more rakeback earned — but also more money leaving the table. The ideal room has reasonable caps combined with high rakeback rates. ## Tournament Rake Tournament rake (the fee portion of the buy-in) typically ranges from 5-15% depending on buy-in level. Higher buy-in tournaments generally have lower rake percentages. Micro buy-ins can have 15-20% rake. ## Rake and Game Selection Lower-stakes games have proportionally higher rake relative to stack sizes. This is why rakeback is especially important at micro and low stakes — it offsets a higher rake burden.