If you are new to online poker scene, you might wonder how the online poker site makes money. Poker site operators don’t bet against you like the casinos and the dealer doesn’t participate in a poker game like Blackjack. So how online poker sites benefit from letting you play and win money? The answer is simple, but a bit complicated for a rookie.
Online poker sites earn money by two methods: (1) by raking in a small amount of money from the ring game pots and (2) the entry fees charged to participate in a poker tournament.

Each website has its own rake schedule which shows the amount of money that is removed from every ring game pot.  This varies from website to website but is generally around 10% of the game pot up to maximum of $3. For example, in a game of average pot of 10-12$, a rake of $1.25 is removed. In a game where the average pot is over $30, a maximum rake of $3 can be applied every hand. There are also websites that don’t charge a rake fee if everyone folds before the flop.

The other way that online poker websites earn money is through tournament fees. Tournament entry fees are generally 10% when it comes to the low stake tournaments ($2 for $20buy-in) where the $20 goes into the pot and $2 into the house account. For large money tournaments, the percentage is decreased and it’s about $20 for $300 buy-in.

Those online poker sites that have made a name for themselves earn large amounts of money from tournaments.  This is due to the fact that poker playing members are more interested in playing tournaments as opposed to the ring games. Since a higher percentage of money is bagged from the tournament player, online poker sites have organized a lot more tournaments for players to participate in.