Rakeback is a refund of poker room rake which has been charged from a player. Rake is how poker rooms make money.

To understand what is rakeback, you need to first learn how poker rooms make profit by charging rake from all real money players. Rake is the only way for poker rooms to make money, since unlike with other casino games, in poker the players are wagering money against other players and not against the house. Think of rake as a small entry fee taken through the poker room for organizing the games.

Poker players do not directly lose any money to the poker site, but the site is steadily raking in micro payments from every cash game pot and tournament entry. The proportion of rake taken online is roughly the exact same 5% of pot size as in brick and mortar casinos, and depending from stakes it can be from one cent to five dollars.

Some quality online gambling agent poker sites display the total amount of rake provided by a pot, but none show what your individual rake contribution has been.