BetOnline Introduces RISE Rewards, Lowers Rake
On June 3, 2024, BetOnline went live with a new poker promotion called the RISE Loyalty Program, which aims to reward high-volume players with weekly rakeback. At the same time, the room announced the lowering of its rake. We're ready to thoroughly examine all the changes and inform you of what to expect.
This news pertains not only to BetOnline but to its partner sites that offer poker on the Chico Poker Network. They are SB Poker and TigerGaming.
RISE Loyalty Program Details
The essence of the new Rise rewards lie in the four tiers into which the system is divided. These levels are based upon rake paid in a week.
$500 is enough to advance to Bronze level, which is worth 10% rakeback. Silver is attained at the $1,000 raked mark and is good for 15% rakeback. Upon paying $2,500 weekly, a player advances to Gold and is able to receive 20% rakeback. The highest tier in the program is platinum, which demands $5,000 raked in a week, and it delivers 25% RB.
Payments are made every Monday for the previous week's play. The timer for each week begins Monday morning at midnight ET and runs through Sunday night at 11:59 p.m. This money is distributed in the form of straight cash placed into individuals' accounts with no rollover requirements.
Note that the minimum required to get any type of rakeback from RISE is $500 raked weekly. This is beyond the reach of most recreational and low-stakes players, so this program is designed especially for volume grinders at moderate to high stakes.
New Rake Schedule
BetOnline also revealed that it was lowering the rake. We can see what the alterations are by comparing the old rake structure to the new one. This is a large amount of data to sift through because BOL has implemented new rake tables for several varieties of cash games. We'll focus solely on non-fast fold No Limit Texas Hold'em because this is what the majority of BetOnline users play.
Old BetOnline Rake Schedule
| Stake | Players | Rake/Pot | Cap |
|---|---|---|---|
| $0.05/$0.10 | 2 | $0.01 per $0.16 in pot | $1 |
| 3+ | $0.01 per $0.16 in pot | $1.50 | |
| $0.10/$0.25 | 2 | $0.01 per $0.16 in pot | $1 |
| 3+ | $0.01 per $0.16 in pot | $2.50 | |
| $0.25/$0.50 | 2 | $0.01 per $0.18 in pot | $1 |
| 3 | $0.01 per $0.18 in pot | $3.00 | |
| 4+ | $0.01 per $0.18 in pot | $3.50 | |
| $0.50/$1.00 | 2 | $0.01 per $0.18 in pot | $1.50 |
| 3 | $0.01 per $0.18 in pot | $3.00 | |
| 4+ | $0.01 per $0.18 in pot | $4.00 | |
| $1.00/$2.00 | 2 | $0.01 per $0.18 in pot | $2.00 |
| 3 | $0.01 per $0.18 in pot | $3.00 | |
| 4 | $0.01 per $0.18 in pot | $4.00 | |
| 5+ | $0.01 per $0.18 in pot | $5.00 | |
| $2.00/$5.00 | 2 | $0.01 per $0.18 in pot | $2.50 |
| 3 | $0.01 per $0.18 in pot | $4.00 | |
| 4 | $0.01 per $0.18 in pot | $5.00 | |
| 5+ | $0.01 per $0.18 in pot | $7.00 | |
| $5.00/$10.00 | 2 | $0.01 per $0.18 in pot | $3.00 |
| 3 | $0.01 per $0.18 in pot | $4.00 | |
| 4 | $0.01 per $0.18 in pot | $6.00 | |
| 5+ | $0.01 per $0.18 in pot | $8.00 |
New BetOnline Rake Schedule
| Stake | Players | Rake/Pot | Cap |
|---|---|---|---|
| $0.05/$0.10 | 2 | $0.01 per $0.20 in pot | $0.50 |
| 3 | $1 | ||
| 4 | $1 | ||
| 5 | $1.50 | ||
| 6 | $1.50 | ||
| 7+ | $0.01 per $0.16 in pot | $1.50 | |
| $0.10/$0.25 | 2 | $0.01 per $0.20 in pot | $1 |
| 3 | $1.50 | ||
| 4 | $2.00 | ||
| 5 | $2.50 | ||
| 6 | $2.50 | ||
| 7+ | $0.01 per $0.16 in pot | $2.50 | |
| $0.25/$0.50 | 2 | $0.01 per $0.20 in pot | $1 |
| 3 | $1.50 | ||
| 4 | $2.50 | ||
| 5 | $3.00 | ||
| 6 | $3.00 | ||
| 7+ | $0.01 per $0.18 in pot | $3.50 | |
| $0.50/$1.00 | 2 | $0.01 per $0.20 in pot | $1.00 |
| 3 | $1.50 | ||
| 4 | $2.50 | ||
| 5 | $3.50 | ||
| 6 | $3.75 | ||
| 7+ | $0.01 per $0.18 in pot | $3.75 | |
| $1.00/$2.00 | 2 | $0.01 per $0.20 in pot | $2.50 |
| 3 | $3.50 | ||
| 4 | $3.50 | ||
| 5 | $4.50 | ||
| 6 | $4.50 | ||
| 7+ | $0.01 per $0.18 in pot | $5.00 | |
| $2.00/$5.00 | 2 | $0.01 per $0.18 in pot | $2.50 |
| 3 | $4.00 | ||
| 4 | $5.00 | ||
| 5 | $7.00 | ||
| 6 | $7.00 | ||
| 7+ | $7.00 | ||
| $5.00/$10.00 | 2 | $0.01 per $0.18 in pot | $3.00 |
| 3 | $4.00 | ||
| 4 | $6.00 | ||
| 5 | $8.00 | ||
| 6 | $8.00 | ||
| 7+ | $8.00 |
For the most part, the hands that will see a significant reduction in rake are those featuring shorthanded and heads-up play. Whereas the old rake structure treated hands with at least five players more or less the same as full-ring, the newer arrangements see rake breaks at tables with four, five, and even six players depending on the blind level.
However, for full tables, the rake is basically unaltered for the majority of stake levels. The rake caps at $5/$10, $2/$5, and $1/$2 games with seven or more players, for example, remain at $8, $7, and $5 respectively.
How Does BOL's New Rake Stack up Against Competitors?
Unfortunately, the new rake tables are still very high compared to what other offshore poker sites are charging. Referring back to the stakes of $5/$10, $2/5, and $1/$2 that we were just discussing, the caps are $8, $7, and $5.
At competitors Bovada and Ignition, the maximum rake at all three of these blind levels is just $4. At ACRPoker and the other member rooms of the Winning Poker Network, it's even lower at $3.
Making things worse is the fact that BetOnline extracts $0.01 of rake at these stakes for every $0.18 in the pot, a rake percentage of 5.56%. Bovada, Ignition, and ACR meanwhile take just 5%.
This consideration is even more pressing at lower blind levels where most users actually play. In $0.05/$0.10 and $0.10/$0.25 hands with seven or more players, BOL takes $0.01 for every $0.16 in the middle, a rake of 6.25%. Yikes!
Curiously, BetOnline has made the rake much more advantageous for fast-fold Boost and PL Omaha games. At all levels $1/$2 and below, the rake is only 5% although higher-stakes PLO does see the return of 5.56% rake and high caps.
Our Takeaway
We were excited to hear about not just a new loyalty program but also a reduction in overall rake. We thought that the combination of these two factors might give BetOnline a new surge of competitiveness and enable it to capture players from its rivals.
Unfortunately, the rake reductions don't go nearly far enough to make a real difference in the results of most users. And the RISE program demands such a high weekly rake threshold that the vast bulk of poker players will have no chance of receiving even the lowest 10% rakeback payment.
It's the same old, same old at BetOnline. There are plenty of reasons to play here, including soft games and frequent promotions, but the rake structure is not one of them.
BetOnline Still a Fine Internet Poker Destination
Numbers don't lie. BetOnline is still the third largest place for online cash game poker in the United States market. This means that it's doing something right in the eyes of its customers. If you want to see what all the fuss is about – and benefit from a 100% up to $1,000 poker bonus while you do so – click on the button below:
If you seek further information before signing up, check out this comprehensive BetOnline review. BOL also has a couple of sister sites, and they all offer the same poker games and tables: SB Poker, TigerGaming (non-US).