How do casino's make a profit from poker? As the players play between themselves and not against the house.

Question

How do casino's make a profit from poker? As the players play between themselves and not against the house.

Answer 1

No casino ever offers any game unless they are going to make a profit!

Casinos profit from poker in two wways.

One, in tournaments they charge a fee to play. Locally for example, Greektown has a tournament that costs $100 plus $25 to play in with 100 other players. The $100 goes to the prize pool, and the $25 goes to the house. That means they get $2,500 (if the tourney fills up) for hosting the tourney. The profit would then be that amount, less the wages of the dealers and the amortized cost of the building, tables, etc.

In ring games, the casinos will take either a "Rake" which is a percentage of every pot, or charge an hourly (or half hourly) fee to sit at a table while you play. Again in Greektown they charge each player a fee every half hour, which varies based on the amount of the blinds and buy in.

When you are looking at tournament tables to play at, always  check the buy in and fees, some casinos will really bump them up, expecially the indian casinos. I saw one recently where the tourney fee was $90, with $60 in the prize pool, $20 to the house and $10 to the dealers, - a very expensive tourney to play.

Here is a link to some good, free tournament poker strategy:

http://www.thedoverpro.com/poker-strateg...

Good luck at the tables!

Answer 2

They take a rake from each hand or a set amount if it is a tournament to cover their costs. Look at any internet poker site and you will see this in action on your screen. They do the same in live casionos as well.

Answer 3

There are three ways the casino can make money from poker.

1) The rake.

During a cash game a certain amount of money is taken from each pot and given to the house.  This is their fee to let you play.  It is also customary for dealers to get tipped by players who win a big pot.  A percentage of these tips is often shared among all the workers of the poker room.  This allows the casinos to pay the staff lower wages and make up the difference in tips, which means more profit for the casino.

2) Periodic Rake

Similar to (1), and rare, but I saw it once in a casino in Indiana.  Every 30 minutes (or whatever time interval the casino decides), all players must ante an amount of money between hands, which is given to the casino.  It's rather like renting a pool table in a bar.  I guess this is a little easier to figure out than raking a pot.

3) Tournament buy in fees

In poker tournaments the buy in is normally described in two numbers, like $100+$10.  This means that $100 is the cost to buy in, and that money goes into the prize pool.  The other amount is what the casino gets.  So the cost to play is $110 in this example.

Answer 4

Actually, Las Vegas casinos do not usually make a profit from poker.  

They take a "rake" from each pot. The rake is usually limited to $3 or $4.  In any event, it is seldom enough to cover the costs of running a poker room.   Casinos will operate poker rooms as a loss on the errant assumption that they bring in guests who play at other casino games.  

Card rooms in other states have been able to make a modest profit from poker games, but they have a different business model than Las Vegas style casinos.

Answer 5

All casino's make a profit- - - - - look around at the building, hotel, drinks, res truants, employees...........stay at a poker table and just watch long enough, ----they make alot of profit!!

Answer 6

Rake, usually a lower percentage of the pot with a cap on it.