What is the Rake in PokerStars?

Author

Juan David Vargas Quiceno, aka Vargoso

Updated

5/22/2026

In this article, we will figure out how much rake Pokerstars charges, how it is calculated and distributed, and how the Pokerstars rake differs from other poker rooms.

How is the rake calculated at Pokerstars?

PokerStars has two rules when collecting the rake at cash tables:

No flop, no drop policy - the fee is taken only from the pots reaching the flop.
Weight contributed - the amount of rake taken from a player is proportional to their share in the pot.

The share of the pot going to the room is expressed as a percentage, but the total amount of rake taken from the pot is also limited by 'caps.' These indicate the maximum amount of commission that can be taken at a particular limit.

For example, at a 5% rake at an NL100$ table, the PokerStars players will pay $2.5 from a pot of $200 instead of $10 because this is the rake cap set by the rules for this stake.

Pokerstars rake structure: No-limit Holdem and Omaha

At no-limit Texas Hold'em tables:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em Rake
Stakes	% Rake	2 Player Cap	3-4 Player Cap	5+ Player Cap
$0.01/$0.02	5.00%	$1.00	$1.00	$1.00
$0.02/$0.05	5.00%	$1.00	$1.00	$1.00
$0.05/$0.10	5.00%	$1.00	$1.00	$1.00
$0.10/$0.25	4.50%	$0.50	$1.00	$2.00
$0.25/$0.50	5.00%	$0.75	$0.75	$2.00
$0.50/$1	5.00%	$1.00	$1.00	$2.50
$1/$2	5.00%	$1.25	$1.25	$2.75
$2/$4	5.00%	$1.50	$1.50	$3.00
$2.50/$5	5.00%	$1.50	$1.50	$3.00
$3/$6	5.00%	$1.50	$1.50	$3.50
$5/$10	4.50%	$1.50	$1.50	$3.00

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em Rake

In Omaha, the rake is different only at low stakes:

Limits	rake	cap / 2 players	cap / 3-4 players	cap / 5+ players
$0.01/$0.02	3.30%	$0.30	$0.30	$0.30
$0.02/$0.05	3.90%	$0.50	$0.50	$1.00
$0.05/$0.10	4.25%	$0.50	$1.00	$1.50
$0.10/$0.25	4.25%	$0.50	$1.00	$2.00

PokerStars zoom rake

Rake at Zoom tables
Zoom stakes	Rake	Cap / 5+ players
$0.01/$0.02	3.50%	$0.30
$0.02/$0.05	4.15%	$1.00
$0.05/$0.10	4.50%	$1.50
$0.10/$0.25	4.50%	$2.00
$0.25/$0.50	5.00%	$2.00
$0.50/$1	5.00%	$2.50
$1/$2	5.00%	$2.75
$2/$4	5.00%	$3.00
$2.50/$5	5.00%	$3.00

Rake at Zoom tables

Fixed Limit rake

Fixed Limit Hold’em Rake at Pokerstars
Stakes	2 Player % / Cap	3-4 Player % / Cap	5+ Player % / Cap
$0.02/$0.04	4.5% / $0.01	4.5% / $0.01	4.5% / $0.01
$0.04/$0.08 to $0.05/$0.10	4.5% / $0.04	4.5% / $0.04	4.5% / $0.04
$0.10/$0.20	4.5% / $0.10	4.5% / $0.10	4.5% / $0.10
$0.25/$0.50	4.5% / $0.16	4.5% / $0.16	4.5% / $0.16
$0.50/$1	4.5% / $0.40	4.5% / $0.40	4.5% / $0.40
$1/$2	2.0% / $0.50	3.0% / $0.70	4.0% / $0.80
$2/$4	2.0% / $0.50	3.0% / $0.70	3.0% / $1.25
$2.50/$5 to $5/$10	2.0% / $0.50	3.0% / $2.00	3.0% / $3.00

Fixed Limit Hold’em Rake at Pokerstars

SpinGo and tournaments rake

In MTT tournaments, a commission is taken from the buy-ins and may vary depending on the speed of blind growth. Usually, it is not more than 10%.

The rake in Spin & Go lottery games at PokerStars varies depending on the limit:

8% – $0,50-$5
7% – $10, $5 (only PLO)
6% – $25-$50
5% – $100-$1,000

Comparison with other online poker sites

Let's compare it to other major online poker rooms to understand how small the rake is in PokerStars.

PokerStars Rake Compared with Other Poker Sites
Stakes	PokerStars	GGPoker*	Coin Poker	WPT Global	ACR Poker	BetOnline	RedStar
NL5$	5.00%, cap $1.00	5%, cap $0.50	5%, cap $0.30	—	5%, cap $3.00	—	6.67%, cap €0.50
NL10$	5.00%, cap $1.00	5%, cap $1	5%, cap $0.50	—	5%, cap $3.00	5.00%, cap $1.50	6.67%, cap €1
NL20-25$	4.50%, cap $2.00	5%, cap $2	5%, cap $1	4%, cap $0.60	5%, cap $3.00	5.00%, cap $2.50	5.00%, cap €2
NL50$	5.00%, cap $2.00	5%, cap $4	5%, cap $2	4%, cap $1.20	5%, cap $3.00	5.00%, cap $3	5.00%, cap €3
NL100$	5.00%, cap $2.50	5%, cap $5	5%, cap $2.5	4%, cap $2.00	5%, cap $3.00	5.00%, cap $3.50	5.00%, cap €4
NL200$-250$	5.00%, cap $2.75-$3.00	5%, cap $6	5%, cap $3	4%, cap $4.00	5%, cap $3.00	5.00%, cap $4.50	5.00%, cap €4
NL400-600$	5.00%, cap $3.00-$3.50	5.00%, cap $8	5.00%, cap $3	4.00%, cap $8.00	5.00%, cap $3.00	5.56%, cap $7	5.00%, cap €4
NL1K$	4.50%, cap $3.00	5.00%, cap $10	5.00%, cap $5	4.00%, cap $20.00	5.00%, cap $3.00	5.56%, cap $8	5.00%, cap €4

PokerStars Rake Compared with Other Poker Sites

*Rake is taken preflop from pots from 2.5BB.

**At tables with 5-6 players.

Is the Pokerstars rake the lowest?

PokerStars does not have the lowest rake on the market across all formats. The main exceptions are micro-stakes Zoom and Omaha games up to $0.10/$0.25, where the rake percentage is lower than at regular NLH tables. In most other games, PokerStars is close to other major poker sites by rake percentage, while its caps often remain competitive, especially at mid and high stakes.

Compared with GGPoker, ACR Poker and BetOnline, PokerStars often charges less rake because these sites usually have significantly higher caps. At the same time, CoinPoker can be more attractive at micro-stakes, while WPT Global has one of the lowest rake loads thanks to its 4% fee and low caps.

Overall, PokerStars rake should not be judged by the headline percentage alone. Caps, game format, stake level and rakeback all affect the real cost of playing. In our online poker rake comparison, PokerStars remains a strong option among major sites, especially for players who value stable traffic and a wide game selection.