Rake
The room's commission on every pot or buy-in
Definition
Rake is the commission the poker room charges for its service. In cash games it's a percentage of every pot played (generally around 5%), capped at a maximum amount (the cap). In tournaments and Sit & Gos it's a share of the buy-in shown at registration: a €10 tournament breaks down, say, into €9 for the prize pool + €1 in fees. Rake genuinely changes strategy, especially at small stakes where it weighs proportionally heaviest. At micro-stakes cash games, pots are taxed so hard that loose-passive play becomes losing: winning ranges there are tighter than in "rake-free" theory. It's also why a player can beat their opponents and still lose money: they don't beat the rake. Rakeback refers to reward systems that return part of the rake paid (cashback, missions, VIP statuses). For a regular player it represents a significant share of the real win rate — two rooms with identical face rake can offer very different net conditions once rakeback is counted.
NL10 cash game (€0.05/€0.10 blinds), 5% rake capped at €1. You win an €8 pot: the room takes €0.40. On a €30 pot the take is capped at €1. A reg playing 50,000 hands a month at these stakes pays several hundred euros in rake — rakeback isn't a bonus, it's part of the win rate.