In some cases, online poker players are met with a tough decision – to sign up for online poker Rakeback, or take full advantage of welcome bonuses when opening a first-time account. There has always been debate over which is more beneficial, Rakeback or bonuses.

Luckily, this isn’t so much of a problem today. Many online poker rooms offering Rakeback have eliminated the prospect of “bonus deductions”. Unfortunately, this does not hold true for all online poker rooms.

Full Tilt Poker continues to take a bonus deduction from players’ Rakeback earnings. Members who sign up for Rakeback will still be eligible for the 100% up to $600 welcome bonus, but a portion of that bonus will be taken from the players Rakeback profits.

Other online poker rooms, particularly those on the Cake Poker Network (Cake Poker, Doyles Room, Power Poker), have done away with bonus deductions. All Rakeback earned by the player, as well as bonus cash cleared by earning poker points, is rewarded separately and in full to the player.

But what about players who truly want to play at Full Tilt Poker? Should they take the Rakeback, or stick with full bonuses? Let’s look at two very important facts…

• Players must take deductions from their Rakeback earnings for bonuses, transaction fees, points spent ($0.005 per point) and tournament overlays.

• Players will still earn their entire bonus, even if it is deducted from Rakeback.

Point being, in the end, the player is not getting ripped off at all. They will not earn as much in Rakeback as they may have assumed, but they will not be taking any losses either. Online poker rooms who take deductions from Rakeback will still offer bonuses and other incentives, and the player will still receive every penny of them – they just won’t receive Rakeback at that time. When there is no reason to deduct from Rakeback, all Rakeback earnings are awarded.

Rakeback Deductions

 

We mentioned above that Full Tilt Poker takes deductions from transaction fees, tournament overlays, bonuses and points spent. We’ll briefly explain each of these to avoid any confusion.

• Transaction Fees: These are the fees normally charged, or waived, by Full Tilt Poker when a player makes a deposit or withdrawal. For example, if you withdrawal a high enough amount via check by courier, Full Tilt Poker will waive the fee (you don’t have to pay it). If you earn Rakeback, however, the fee is taken out of your Rakeback.

• Tournament Overlays: Here’s a big one. When a player enters a guaranteed tournament where the prize pool did not reach its expected amount (not enough players entered to cover the guarantee), the online poker room has to add money. That added money gets divided by all players who entered, and each player earning Rakeback will have that median amount deducted.

• Bonuses: A bonus is any money awarded for depositing or as part of a promotion or VIP reward.

• Points Spent: When you spend the poker points earned, they are each worth $0.005. That’s half of one cent. So if you spend 1,000 points, that equals $5.00 in deductions.