What Does Taking a Rake Mean in Poker & When Is It Legal?
3 minutes
Last Updated: October 4, 2023
Amateurs and professional poker players are well-acquainted with the term ‘taking a rake.' At the same time, people who have quite a vague idea about poker may not understand this concept clearly and distinguish cases when taking a rake is legal and when it is not.
In its essence, taking a rake means taking money for admitting players to the poker table and letting them play.
Therefore, a rake is a sort of payment the party that manages the game takes.
At the same time, licensed parties may offer diverse services, and they may take a rake to provide legal poker games along with other online gambling games.
At this point, it is possible to refer to the case of the best payout online casino, which is a large online platform that provides online casino services and takes a rake to provide players with opportunities to play poker legally and with all legal accountability that licensed casinos bear in relation to their customers.
At first glance, the concept of taking a rake is quite fair and reasonable and seems to be absolutely harmless to players.
The party, for example, a casino, equips the facility, provides equipment, pays taxes, and does its business.
Hence, it seems to be quite reasonable that they would take a rake, i.e., they would take the money to create conditions, supply materials and equipment needed, and provide players with the technical opportunity to play.
In such a context, it seems to be absolutely fair to let the casino take a rake.
Is Taking Rake Always Justified?
However, it is possible to think of a different situation, when a group of players starts playing a poker game and one of the players takes a rake to deal cards and handle chips. In such a context, questions concerning the fairness of taking a rake arises.
To address this doubt, lawmakers have introduced the licensure procedure to regulate procedures related to taking a rake by parties that run poker games.
This is why today, taking a rake may be illegal if the party taking the rake does not have proper gaming licenses.
As a rule, this may be the case for some unknown and unreliable casinos that attempt to use technologies to rip off maximum profits and operate without licenses.
Even though such cases are rather exceptional, customers may secure their money by using reliable and popular poker online platforms, such as PokerStars or 888poker.
Reliable poker websites have the license, and they can take a rake legally. Risks associated with illegal rake are enormous, especially for clients.
Why Should Players Care?
The average player may naturally question what is the point of regulation and licensing of taking a rake if casinos run poker games.
Basically, they may find it's quite fair to let them take a rake, regardless of whether casinos have the license to do so or not.
To remove any doubts and respond to the players' questions, it is necessary to foresee the consequences of taking a rake illegally or without a license.
First, the risk of tax evasion arises. Second, unlicensed parties are likely to breach the law easily, and they may use manipulations and cheating to deceive players just to engage them into the play to take the rake for the party that runs the game.
In such a situation, players will not get any legal protection of their rights as customers. If the entire game they play turns out to be illegal, that imposes the burden of legal accountability.
This isn't a problem just for the party that takes a rake but also for the players, who cannot protect their rights as customers, as the entire game is illegal.
Therefore, taking a rake is not only about taking the payment for running poker games. It is also about the legality of the game and offering the best protection for the players.
