GGPoker Rakeback and Rake Explained

GGPoker rakeback: how it works

GGPoker rakeback runs through Ocean Rewards, a loyalty program shared by GGPoker and other GGNetwork skins. It has eight levels, from Fish to Shark, and each level up returns a bigger share of your rake. The estimated return ranges from about 16% at Fish to about 80% at Shark. GG publishes only the top figure; the rates for individual levels are estimates based on Gems earned and Gems Store exchange rates.

You climb up the levels with Tide Points. The official base rate is 100 TP per $1 of rake, but your Player Value Index (PVI) determines how many points you actually receive. Gems are a separate currency that you can exchange for cash bonuses in the Gems Store.

Rakeback returns part of the rake you pay, so the amount GGPPoker takes from each pot matters as much as the percentage you get back. Cash game rake is 5%. At regular tables, the cap depends on how many players are in the hand. 

Below, we break down how those rewards work, then look at GGPoker’s rake structure separately.

Ocean Rewards: levels, Tide Points and Gems

Ocean Rewards has eight levels, each unlocked by a Tide Point threshold. The rake column assumes the base rate of 100 TP per $1.

GGPoker doesn't publish per-level percentages; officially, it promises only "up to 80%". We calculated the column ourselves: the Gems a level earns per $1 of rake, divided by the Gems Store price of $1 in bonus, at the base 100 TP per $1.

Fish earns 150 Gems per $1 of rake; at 920–1,000 Gems per bonus dollar, that's about 15–16%. Shark's ~80% assumes the best exchange rate: 500 Gems per $1 of rake, cashed at 620 Gems per bonus dollar (the $100,000 package), gives 80.6%. At 900 Gems per bonus dollar, the same earn rate returns about 56%.

How you earn Tide Points

The base rate is 100 TP per $1 of poker rake; the rate you see depends on PVI. Casino play earns Tide Points too: about 4 TP per $1 wagered on slots and about 4 TP per $3 on table games, according to GGPoker's Ocean Rewards page.

Tide Points reset on January 1 at 00:00 UTC. A level you reach holds until the end of the following calendar year, and GG checks for downgrades once a year.

Gems and the Gems Store

Gems are a second currency on top of Tide Points. They don't move you up the levels: you swap them for cash bonuses in the Gems Store, and the exchange rate improves with bigger redemptions. How many Gems you earn depends on your level:

The Gems Store rates, from the GGPoker client:

One risk sits outside the table. Under GGPoker's T&C, Gems are promotional credits: they have no fixed value until you exchange them, and GG can change the terms without notice.

Ocean Rewards vs Fish Buffet: what changed

Fish Buffet closed on January 30, 2026, the day Ocean Rewards launched and replaced it across GGPoker Network. The ceiling went up and the currency changed:

The main difference is the abandonment of the monthly race for status and the transition to a stable annual system.

PVI: why your real rakeback is below 80%

PVI decides how many Tide Points you actually get per dollar of rake. At a PVI of 0.3, Shark's advertised ~80% works out to ~24%.

In practice, PVI applies to Ocean Rewards through the Tide Points credited to your account. For example, regulars on 2+2 report 0.2–0.3. In one 2+2 case, 100 TP cost about $3.70 of rake instead of $1.

The thing we do know is that the number of points you get depends on:

• Play volume and regularity
• Playing style
• Deposit and withdrawal history
• Overall player profile

Profitable regulars and active grinders typically earn fewer points than recreational players. However, anyone can reach high levels—it's just a matter of how much rake they need.

PVI hits twice. It cuts the return at your level, and it slows the climb, because the rake column in the level table assumes 100 TP per $1. At a PVI of 0.3, Turtle's 200,000 TP take about $6,670 of rake rather than $2,000, and Shark's 10,000,000 TP about $333,000 rather than $100,000.

To estimate your own PVI, divide the Tide Points credited over a period by the rake you paid in it, then by 100: 100 TP per $1 is a PVI of 1.0, 30 TP is 0.3. Pick a period without casino play, which earns Tide Points without rake.

The spread between players is wide and follows each player's results and style, so an "average PVI" tells you little about your own. We don't publish one. Instead, the table runs every level at three PVI values: these are scenarios, not averages.

How PVI is calculated is covered in our full PVI breakdown.

GGPoker rake structure

GGPoker rakes cash-game pots at 5% across all stakes. At regular tables the cap depends on how many players are in the hand; Rush & Cash has a flat 3BB cap, and in big-blind terms the caps are heaviest at the micros.

Cash game rake caps by game and stakes

We took the caps below from the GGPoker client. Low and middle stakes are capped in dollars, high stakes in big blinds; the four cap columns are for 2, 3, 4 and 5 or more players in the hand.

Converted to big blinds, the caps shrink as stakes rise:

• At NL2 6-max a multiway pot pays up to $0.20, or 10BB.
• At $0.25/$0.50 the cap runs $1–$4, which is 2–8BB
• At $5/$10 it's 0.25–1BB, and at $10/$20 0.188–0.75BB.

PLO follows the same pattern at the top: 0.375–1.5BB at $2/$5 and $5/$10, 0.313–1.25BB at $10/$20.

Rush & Cash is the one format with a flat cap: 5% up to 3BB whatever the number of players in the hand, in both Hold'em and PLO.

Does GGPoker take rake preflop?

Yes. Pots larger than 2.5BB that end before the flop are raked. GGPoker doesn't publish this rule; this is how it works in practice. That sets GG apart from no-flop-no-drop sites.

Spin & Gold and tournament fees

Spin & Gold and All-in or Fold Sit & Go carry a fee of about 7% of the buy-in; MTT fees run about 10%.

Can you get a fixed GGPoker rakeback deal?

No. GGPoker prohibits fixed rakeback deals through affiliates, so any site promising a fixed percentage on top of Ocean Rewards is offering something GG doesn't allow.

Signing up through Worldpokerdeals gets you exactly this:

• Welcome bonus: 100% up to $600, or $100 in tickets, your choice.
• Honeymoon for Newcomers: 30 days of missions with up to $350 in prizes.
• Ocean Rewards: ~16–80% by level before PVI, the standard program open to every player.
• Weekly $100K Freeroll.
• Daily GGCare Flipout freeroll.
• Monthly Cash Game Giveaway: daily leaderboards for every poker variant, about $7.5M in prizes (as of September 2026).
• From WPD: help from our support team and our own weekly GGPoker freerolls.

Enter bonus code WPDDEALS when you register to get access to our support team and WPD freerolls.

How to squeeze more from GGPoker rakeback

This is what we advise our players:

• Finish a level when 10–15% of the rake is left. Crab takes about $500 of rake; at $450 in, topping up moves you from ~25% to ~30%. Count the gap at your actual TP rate, not at 100 TP per $1: at a PVI of 0.3, Crab's 50,000 TP take about $1,670 of rake.
• Use casino TP to top up, not to farm. At the slot rate, 10,000 TP take $2,500 of turnover, against about $100 of poker rake. Closing a small gap works; building a level from zero doesn't. The $100 assumes the base 100 TP per $1, so at your PVI the poker side may cost more.
• Save Gems for bigger exchanges. The smallest package costs 1,000 Gems per $1, the largest 620, so small exchanges burn the rate. The longer you save, though, the longer you hold promotional credits GG can revalue: the rate is already 10% better at the $100 package (900) and 20% better at $1,000 (800); save to one of those, not to the maximum.
• Treat a level as a yearly investment, not a monthly challenge. If you're close to Turtle (200,000 TP, ~40%), estimate your yearly volume at your actual TP rate and reach the level in normal play.

Final thoughts

GGPoker rakes preflop pots over 2.5BB, and its caps weigh most at the micros, where a multiway NL2 pot pays up to 10BB. Ocean Rewards returns part of that, but how much depends on your level and your play style, and GG publishes neither the per-level rates nor your PVI. Before you count on GGPoker rakeback, work out your own rate: your level's percentage multiplied by your PVI.

If the numbers work for your volume, sign up with code WPDDEALS. For software, traffic and the rest of the site, read our full GGPoker review.

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