Before we get started, I’d like to clarify that this post is primarily looking at total rewards/rakeback from promotions and loyalty combined, but you’ll also find data solely for loyalty rakeback.
The industry often keeps rakeback details, particularly those related to loyalty programs, quite secretive. For many sites, there’s a good reason for this: what appears to be a very generous loyalty program may not be as beneficial as it seems.
Promotional phrases like “Up to x%” and “average rakeback of x%” are commonly seen when advertising loyalty programs. However, these figures can be misleading. Often, the fine print or terms and conditions will include a statement like “rewards are based on the number of points you collect, not the rake you pay,” which significantly alters the perception of the program’s value. For instance, some affiliates on one of the largest poker networks fail to disclose that their “cashback” is calculated on attributed rake rather than actual rake. While there are clear advantages to these opaque systems, they conflict with the transparency we strive for at Unibet poker.
I know you didn’t come here to read about how other sites are misleading their players. However, the level of transparency we provide on this site will occasionally require a bit of industry context. If you’re all about the numbers, feel free to skip the next paragraph.
What is poker rakeback/cashback?
Fifteen years ago, answering how rakeback works was straightforward. Game rules specified the fees or rake players paid, and everyone was treated equally. A portion of this rake was returned to players as cash or its equivalent—simple, right?
Today, it’s far from simple. Rakeback has evolved, and it’s not as straightforward as it used to be. There are now three primary models of how rake and rakeback operate:
- The traditional model. This is the classic approach where rake is taken and considered for loyalty uniformly. Whether you’re a winning or losing player doesn’t affect how much rake you’re attributed with; €1 of rake is just that. This model underpins the fundamentals of our loyalty program.
- The attributed rake model. This model aims to reward less successful players more than the skilled ones. However, this isn’t done openly but rather through a secret formula. Consequently, two players have hands play out identically but have different amounts of rake attributed to them, which leads to differing rewards as these are linked directly to the rake. This approach is used by one of the largest multi-brand poker networks in Europe.
- “The worlds biggest poker room” model. Similar in aim to the attributed rake model, but this kind of system is using a points mechanism for rewards, rather than attributed rake. The accrual of points, akin to attributed rake, varies with player skill—new or less skilled players earn more points per raked amount compared to seasoned players.
We have opted for the old-fashioned model, for the core loyalty mechanics. As there is significant value in paying rakeback grinders more than their crushing counterparts, we have then also added the bi-weekly bonuses, which have similar objectives to the attributed rake model. The key difference here is that the core loyalty program is separate and we are upfront about the minimum rakeback every single player is guaranteed to get (based on true rake, not attributed rake or points).
So, why the detailed introduction? It’s crucial to understand that you cannot directly compare promotional pages or rakeback tables of different loyalty systems. They aren’t comparable on a like-for-like basis. In this context, there’s much at stake in being transparent, especially if players don’t grasp this fundamental difference.
While rakeback is of great significance to high volume players, the rake is obviously equally important. As an example, the NL4 rake on Unibet is less than half of what other sites are charging. If you play NL4, the rakeback becomes secondary, if comparing to other sites, as you’ll be better off on Unibet, even if we paid you 0% and you’d get 50% elsewhere.
The advertised loyalty rakeback vs average actual total rewards
On the loyalty page you will find a table similar to the one below. Here, I’ve just added a column for the actual total rewards value/rakeback from promotions and loyalty.
Let’s explain the table with an example. Looking at level 7-9, we’re promising all players a minimum of 48.1% in loyalty rakeback. For players that reached level 7 in the previous quarter, this percentage is then increased to 50.1%, due to a carry-over mechanic between quarters. The highest possible rakeback at 7-9 is 65.1%. If we then look at the average – not the maximum – based on real data for total rewards, we see that the players at level 7-9 are getting an average of 68% in rakeback.
This is the case for many levels – that the average true total rakeback exceeds the advertised max rakeback from loyalty – and especially for the early levels, the max is exceeded significantly due to promotions like the monthly missions.
| Level | Rake | Advertised min loyalty RB % | Advertised max loyalty RB % | Actual average total rewards % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0.0% | 0.0% | 21.8% | |
| 1-1 | €5 | 5.0% | 5.0% | 11.3% |
| 1-2 | €10 | 5.0% | 5.0% | 8.9% |
| 1-3 | €15 | 5.0% | 5.0% | 9.9% |
| 2 | €20 | 5.0% | 5.0% | 11.9% |
| 2-1 | €45 | 7.8% | 7.8% | 17.1% |
| 2-2 | €70 | 8.6% | 8.6% | 17.4% |
| 2-3 | €95 | 8.9% | 8.9% | 15.9% |
| 3 | €120 | 9.2% | 9.2% | 14.1% |
| 3-1 | €245 | 10.1% | 10.1% | 14.7% |
| 3-2 | €370 | 10.4% | 10.4% | 14.8% |
| 3-3 | €495 | 11.1% | 11.1% | 15.9% |
| 4 | €620 | 11.5% | 15.5% | 17.7% |
| 4-1 | €920 | 13.9% | 18.4% | 20.7% |
| 4-2 | €1,220 | 15.2% | 20.2% | 23.9% |
| 4-3 | €1,520 | 15.9% | 21.9% | 24.1% |
| 5 | €1,820 | 16.4% | 25.4% | 24.9% |
| 5-1 | €2,770 | 19.7% | 29.7% | 32.0% |
| 5-2 | €3,720 | 21.3% | 31.3% | 33.1% |
| 5-3 | €4,670 | 22.3% | 34.3% | 34.7% |
| 6 | €5,620 | 22.9%-30.4% | 42.4% | 36.3% |
| 6-1 | €7,720 | 26.4%-31.9% | 44.4% | 42.4% |
| 6-2 | €9,820 | 28.4%-32.7% | 45.2% | 45.1% |
| 6-3 | €11,920 | 29.7%-33.3% | 46.3% | 47.4% |
| 7 | €14,020 | 30.6%-37.6% | 50.6% | 48.7% |
| 7-1 | €18,020 | 32.9%-38.4% | 51.4% | 49.5% |
| 7-2 | €22,020 | 34.4%-38.9% | 52.4% | 50.5% |
| 7-3 | €26,020 | 35.4%-39.2% | 52.7% | 52.1% |
| 7-4 | €30,020 | 36.2%-39.4% | 53.4% | 53.9% |
| 7-5 | €34,020 | 36.7%-39.6% | 53.6% | 57.3% |
| 7-6 | €38,020 | 38.5%-41.1% | 56.1% | 52.5% |
| 7-7 | €42,020 | 41.1%-43.4% | 58.4% | 58.4% |
| 7-8 | €46,020 | 44.4%-46.5% | 61.5% | 69.7% |
| 7-9 | €50,020 | 48.1%-50.1% | 65.1% | 68.2% |
The advertised max loyalty rakeback vs max actual total rewards
Above, we compared the average actual rakeback with what’s advertised for the loyalty program, but what’s the highest possible rakeback you can get at Unibet?
Firstly, due to promo luck, some players taking full advantage of our offer etc., there’re lots of outliers with thousands of percent in rakeback. I could have included these and made things look really impressive, but I’d rather provide more realistic figures for a “normal” player.
After excluding the most extreme outliers, we do the following:
- For the “max actual rakeback”, we look at top 2% of players, by highest reward value received. We do this per loyalty level
- As there’re still some players getting a really high rakeback percentage – after excluding outliers – we exclude the top 10%, of the top 2%. Say we had 1000 players total for a loyalty level, then we’d focus on the top 20 (top 2%), but we’re then disregarding top 10%, so we look at players ranked 3-20. This is after outliers have already been excluded.
- Due to certain levels being achieved by very few players, we’re including a minimum of 3 players. If total player count for level is 10, we’d look at top 3 rather than top 1.
Doing this, we get the below values.
| Level | Rake | Advertised max loyalty RB % | Actual max total rewards/rakeback % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0.0% | 988.9% | |
| 1-1 | € 5 | 5.0% | 141.7% |
| 1-2 | € 10 | 5.0% | 106.5% |
| 1-3 | € 15 | 5.0% | 129.7% |
| 2 | € 20 | 5.0% | 183.8% |
| 2-1 | € 45 | 7.8% | 182.4% |
| 2-2 | € 70 | 8.6% | 134.6% |
| 2-3 | € 95 | 8.9% | 129.9% |
| 3 | € 120 | 9.2% | 93.3% |
| 3-1 | € 245 | 10.1% | 103.6% |
| 3-2 | € 370 | 10.4% | 89.7% |
| 3-3 | € 495 | 11.1% | 99.0% |
| 4 | € 620 | 15.5% | 121.4% |
| 4-1 | € 920 | 18.4% | 54.3% |
| 4-2 | € 1,220 | 20.2% | 127.7% |
| 4-3 | € 1,520 | 21.9% | 105.6% |
| 5 | € 1,820 | 25.4% | 112.4% |
| 5-1 | € 2,770 | 29.7% | 115.4% |
| 5-2 | € 3,720 | 31.3% | 87.4% |
| 5-3 | € 4,670 | 34.3% | 68.3% |
| 6 | € 5,620 | 42.4% | 80.0% |
| 6-1 | € 7,720 | 44.4% | 79.5% |
| 6-2 | € 9,820 | 45.2% | 73.0% |
| 6-3 | € 11,920 | 46.3% | 64.1% |
| 7 | € 14,020 | 50.6% | 78.0% |
| 7-1 | € 18,020 | 51.4% | 53.7% |
| 7-2 | € 22,020 | 52.4% | 56.5% |
| 7-3 | € 26,020 | 52.7% | 60.5% |
| 7-4 | € 30,020 | 53.4% | 61.5% |
| 7-5 | € 34,020 | 53.6% | 61.3% |
| 7-6 | € 38,020 | 56.1% | 55.5% |
| 7-7 | € 42,020 | 58.4% | 61.0% |
| 7-8 | € 46,020 | 61.5% | 72.9% |
| 7-9 | € 50,020 | 65.1% | 78.0% |
The actual min and max loyalty rakeback
“But rakeback is not about promotions. It is solely rewards from loyalty”.
Sure, rakeback is often considered to be the value received from just the loyalty program. Even if I think it makes more sense – in the context of this blog post – to look at the total value, I’ll throw another table at you.
The Jackpot Mania/Timed Jackpots promotion is not included in any numbers on this page, as it’s technically not paying anything back but rather not charging the rake in the first place.
For the HexaPro stakes €1-€25, it equals a significant 8.6% “rakeback”, looking at all HexaPro tournaments played in the last 4 full quarters. For HexaPro Extreme it’s a game-changing 46%! In other words, we’ve been charging just 3.68% rake on Extreme instead of the advertised 6.853%
| Level | Rake | Advertised min loyalty RB % | Advertised max loyalty RB % | Actual average total loyalty rakeback % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | |
| 1-1 | €5 | 5.0% | 5.0% | 3.5% |
| 1-2 | €10 | 5.0% | 5.0% | 4.1% |
| 1-3 | €15 | 5.0% | 5.0% | 4.4% |
| 2 | €20 | 5.0% | 5.0% | 4.2% |
| 2-1 | €45 | 7.8% | 7.8% | 6.8% |
| 2-2 | €70 | 8.6% | 8.6% | 7.8% |
| 2-3 | €95 | 8.9% | 8.9% | 8.4% |
| 3 | €120 | 9.2% | 9.2% | 7.7% |
| 3-1 | €245 | 10.1% | 10.1% | 9.3% |
| 3-2 | €370 | 10.4% | 10.4% | 10.1% |
| 3-3 | €495 | 11.1% | 11.1% | 11.4% |
| 4 | €620 | 11.5% | 15.5% | 12.4% |
| 4-1 | €920 | 13.9% | 18.4% | 16.2% |
| 4-2 | €1,220 | 15.2% | 20.2% | 18.3% |
| 4-3 | €1,520 | 15.9% | 21.9% | 19.7% |
| 5 | €1,820 | 16.4% | 25.4% | 20.2% |
| 5-1 | €2,770 | 19.7% | 29.7% | 25.9% |
| 5-2 | €3,720 | 21.3% | 31.3% | 27.8% |
| 5-3 | €4,670 | 22.3% | 34.3% | 28.5% |
| 6 | €5,620 | 22.9%-30.4% | 42.4% | 31.0% |
| 6-1 | €7,720 | 26.4%-31.9% | 44.4% | 35.4% |
| 6-2 | €9,820 | 28.4%-32.7% | 45.2% | 36.9% |
| 6-3 | €11,920 | 29.7%-33.3% | 46.3% | 40.1% |
| 7 | €14,020 | 30.6%-37.6% | 50.6% | 40.4% |
| 7-1 | €18,020 | 32.9%-38.4% | 51.4% | 42.7% |
| 7-2 | €22,020 | 34.4%-38.9% | 52.4% | 43.8% |
| 7-3 | €26,020 | 35.4%-39.2% | 52.7% | 44.0% |
| 7-4 | €30,020 | 36.2%-39.4% | 53.4% | 46.0% |
| 7-5 | €34,020 | 36.7%-39.6% | 53.6% | 49.5% |
| 7-6 | €38,020 | 38.5%-41.1% | 56.1% | 46.1% |
| 7-7 | €42,020 | 41.1%-43.4% | 58.4% | 51.9% |
| 7-8 | €46,020 | 44.4%-46.5% | 61.5% | 60.7% |
| 7-9 | €50,020 | 48.1%-50.1% | 65.1% | 57.8% |
“Hold up mister! The average is lower than the minimum, for the lowest levels! What’s up with that?!”
As mentioned on the loyalty page: “The minimum rakeback is the guaranteed percentage right when you reach the listed level. If you’re halfway towards the next level, the rakeback will naturally be lower, due to rewards being paid as level is reached.”.
Notes on the data displayed in this blog post
- The data is for all markets with the global loyalty system (NL, BE, SE and DK excluded)
- The data is for the last 4 full quarters (Q2 2023-Q1 2024)
- The same player can feature up to four times in the dataset (once per quarter)
- Tournament overlay/freerolls are not considered for any of the above numbers
- Jackpot Mania/Timed Jackpots is not considered for any of the above numbers
- Tickets etc. are considered to be of the value they’re advertised as: €1 ticket=€1 rakeback
- Outliers (extremely high rakeback) have been excluded from all of the tables