Beating the Rake

Before you begin playing a game of Texas Hold'em, there are a few things that you should know. A few of the factors to be taken into consideration include the number of players at the table, how aggressive or passive those players are, your table position, your budget, and how much of a risk you are willing to take. If there are eight or ten people playing at the table, its more likely for the of the other players to have a strong hand in the pocket than is in a short handed game. The chances of someone's pre-flop hand hitting the flop will be much higher in a larger game, so, the more competition there is, the stiffer the competition gets. If you have been playing with a smaller group of people for several hands, you have probably noticed that at least one person at the table is probably raising pre-flop every hand. If this is the case, you should consider playing tighter. Your best strategy here is to let that person win the blinds until you have a very strong hand in the pocket pre flop.

The house has the edge on you in this game and the rake is designed so that the house takes money from the players in small amounts. However, there are certain ways that you can make these amounts even smaller and allow yourself to play opposite the style of the table. You can cut out the tighter players by using tactics like stealing the blind and buying free cards. Buying a free card is usually a trick used in the last position. If no one else has raised the post- flop, then you place your bet. Doing that will most likely cause a few of the other players to fold, and those who stay will usually check you. Since you don't have to bet again if everyone checks you, you have bought the card.

If you are playing against an aggressive player, you should tighten up your strategy and style of play. Play only great starting hands and fold after the flop if it didn't bring anything to your hand. The better you are as a player, the better your chance of overcoming the rake and bluffing. Once you get to that point, you really don't need to be preoccupied with the rake anymore. If you are a beginner, you should play tighter than normal, until you develop more of a strategy. You can ask some casinos for a rake break if the game happens to become short handed; when they do this, they either lower or get rid of the rake.