Rakeback
Rakeback is a casino reward that pays you a fixed share of the house edge on everything you bet, whether the bet wins or loses. The formula is wager × house edge × rakeback rate. At a 1% edge and a 3.5% rate, $10,000 of bets returns $3.50.
- Rakeback
- total wagered × house edge × rate
- Expected loss before rakeback
- total wagered × house edge
- Expected loss after rakeback
- total wagered × house edge × (1 − rate)
- Published example
- 1 BTC wagered at 2% edge, 3.5% rate → 0.0007 BTC
Rakeback is paid on the edge, not on the bet. It sounds like a rebate on turnover, but a 3.5% rate doesn't mean 3.5% of your bets come back. It means 3.5% of the casino's expected cut does. Poker rooms used the word first, for a share of the rake taken from each pot, and crypto casinos carried it over to every game.
Worked out for $10,000 of bets
| House edge | Expected loss | Rakeback at 3.5% | Rakeback at 10% | Rakeback at 25% | Net loss at 10% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.5% | $50 | $1.75 | $5 | $12.50 | $45 |
| 1% | $100 | $3.50 | $10 | $25 | $90 |
| 2% | $200 | $7 | $20 | $50 | $180 |
| 3.5% | $350 | $12.25 | $35 | $87.50 | $315 |
| 4% | $400 | $14 | $40 | $100 | $360 |
Own calculation, script rakeback.py in our repo (growth6/daten/phase2/b1b). Rates other than 3.5% are examples, not offers.
Read the table across and you'll see the catch. A slot at 4% pays four times the rakeback of a 1% dice game, and you lose four times as much getting it. The help-centre wording on one sweepstakes site even says third-party games give you higher rakeback, which is true and is also the expensive way round.
Does it change a session?
100,000 simulated sessions of 1,000 bets at $10 each, on a 49.5% shot that pays 2x, which is a 1% edge. Rakeback at 3.5% is a flat $3.50 per session.
- Average result
- −$100.51 before rakeback
- Middle session
- −$100
- 10th to 90th percentile
- −$500 to +$300
- Sessions ending ahead
- 36.3%
- Ahead once $3.50 rakeback is added
- 38.8%
Those extra 2.5 points are sessions that finished exactly level and now show $3.50 profit. Everything else doesn't move, because $3.50 is small next to a swing of several hundred dollars. If you're picking games for rakeback, you're mostly picking how fast you lose.
18+. Rakeback lowers the house edge a little and never removes it. Help: Responsible gaming.
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Questions
What is rakeback in a casino?
A share of the house edge paid back on every bet, win or lose. The amount depends on how much you wager, the edge of the game and the rate.
How is Stake rakeback calculated?
Stake's help centre gives 3.5% of the house edge as cash, after $10,000 wagered (Bronze VIP). Its example: 1 BTC wagered on a 2% game returns 0.0007 BTC. Stake.us describes the same 3.5% in Stake Cash.
Can rakeback make a game profitable?
Only if the rate reached 100% of the edge. Below that, every bet still has a negative expected value, just a slightly smaller one.
What is the difference between rakeback and cashback?
Rakeback is paid on wagers, win or lose. Cashback is usually a share of net losses over a period, so it only pays when you are down.
Sources
- Stake help centre: What is Rakeback? (Wayback). 3.5% of the house edge, from Bronze VIP after $10,000 wagered; example 1 BTC at 2% → 0.0007 BTC. Live page read 2026-11-12. Checked 12 November 2026
- Stake.us help centre: rakeback (Wayback). 3.5% of the edge; example 10 SC at 1% → 0.0035 SC; third-party games give higher rakeback. Live page read 2026-11-12. Checked 12 November 2026
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