THE WORLD'S #1 POKER MANUAL - Card Games

Poker Book, Professional and Public Poker
For the good player, the most negative feature of public poker is the damage that the house cut (time
collection or casino rake) does to his profit potential. Card clubs and casinos, through their continuous
collections and raking, gradually but permanently remove most of the available cash from all public
games. In private games, the bulk of that house-removed cash would have ended up in the good player's
pocket. Tables 31 and 32 illustrate the draining effect that the house cut has on the earnings of the good
player. If the house cut is sufficiently high (e.g., 15 percent or more), the good player may be unable to
win over the long term, no matter how great his advantage is over the other players.
The far-right-hand columns of Tables 31 and 32 show that the house cut diminishes the good player's
earnings much more than the amount actually collected from him. That is because the house cut
relentlessly drains cash away from every opponent, steadily shrinking the amount of money available for
extraction from poor players by the good player. Because of the constantly draining house cut, the
poorest players (the good player's most valuable assets) are driven from the game more quickly than are
the tougher players. That phenomenon results in higher concentrations of tough or superior players than
would occur in comparable games without a house cut. Also, the house cut produces more losers who, in
turn, will play tighter poker, thus further diminishing the good player's advantage and edge odds.
Adding to the cash drain in casino poker is the toking (tipping) of the house dealer by the winner of each
pot. Because of the arbitrary raking power of most casino dealers, toking is necessary to avoid extraheavy
rakes from future pots that the player may win. Toking increases by as much as 20 percent the
money removed from the game by casinos. Since public card clubs have no house dealers, their
customers are spared that additional drain (although toking of floormen does occur in some high-stake
club games).
The house cut (rake) in poker is actually higher than the house cut in most major gambling games such
as blackjack, craps, and roulette. The primary difference between gambling and playing public poker is
that in gambling, individuals play directly against the house (the casino) and have no way to overcome
the house cut or house percentage.[ 28 ] But in poker, individuals play against one another, not against
the house or casino. The good poker player can, therefore, consistently extract money from all inferior
players. He will win in casino and club poker if his money extraction from the other players is greater
than the amount the house extracts from him. Conversely, the loser or the inferior player takes a double
loss in public poker--the loss to the winners and the loss to the house.
In calculating his edge odds, the good player must include the house as the biggest winner. As indicated
by Tables 31-34, the house will be the biggest winner in almost every game, with the good player
averaging a distant second. In private poker, the good player tries to eliminate any competing big winner
as quickly as possible (or he quits that game and finds a more profitable game without a competing big
winner). But in public poker, the good player can never escape from or eliminate the biggest winner (the
club or casino). By playing only in private games and avoiding the house cut, the good player makes
himself the biggest winner.[ 29 ]
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