If you've payed attention to the online
poker world recently, you have probably noticed that may site's are now offering rake back. What is rake back? Rakeback is when a poker room awards a portion of the "rake", or
Backgammon for Money that the poker room has made off of that player, back to the player as an incentive to keep
Bingo Games playing at the given room. The only catch is that it is usually paid by a third party site who pays the player directly. This can often result in shady business practices between 3rd party affiliate sites. Some new sites have opted to use a points system which has brought about a new level of fairness in the rakeback world.

A good example of a fair rakeback system is Bodog's rakeback system. It is completely controlled by Bodog, and does not involve third party sites. Read more about it here.
When a poker room offers rake back, they are usually trying to keep their players
Online Pool playing at their room. What does this do in the long run? It keeps all of the good, winning players around. A room that has been promotiong rakeback deals for a long time can be said to have lots of sharks. New players usually avoid rakeback rooms since the play can be substantially better than at other rooms. On the other hand, some poker rooms do not allow rakeback. These rooms take on another method to obtaining both new and experienced players at the same time. They do this by giving away money. This brings in hordes of "fish" who want the free bankroll, and at the same time it brings in hordes of "sharks" looking to take advantage of all of the fish splashing around with their free bankroll.

While rakeback can be great if you are a consistent winning player, it can also be bad if you are new to the game. May advise new players to study the game first, and play within a comfortable limit. Remember that wherever there are fish... sharks are soon to follow.
Resources: http://www.backgame.com
http://www.play89.com
http://www.reviewpokerrooms.com
Chatboard (0)