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Live tournament poker has become tougher for players in recent years, and increasing rake may be another reason why. A new analysis from Card Player compared tournament rake from 2025–26 with similar events from 2015 and 2019.
The overall trend is that rake has increased at most tournament levels, although the increases are generally fairly small. The biggest impact appears to be at the lower buy-in levels.
For example, the WSOP $500 Colossus has gone from a 11.50% rake in 2015 to 17% today, while a roughly $400 Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood multi-flight event increased from 14.29% to 18%. By comparison, some larger tournaments have seen much smaller increases, remained unchanged, or even decreased.
At the $1,000 level, the WSOP $1,000 event went from 11.70% in 2015 to 12% today, while the PokerStars $1,100 event increased from 11.81% to 12.73%.
Interestingly, the analysis suggests that some winning players could actually have a better ROI in $1,000 tournaments compared with $500 events, assuming the player pools are reasonably similar. The higher buy-in means the rake represents a smaller percentage of the entry fee, leaving more of the buy-in available for the prize pool.
That could make tournament selection even more important for smaller-stakes players. A few percentage points of additional rake can make a significant difference for players who are only achieving a modest ROI.
The article also points out that increased rake combined with more reentries and longer late-registration periods can cause players to burn through their bankrolls faster.
Overall, live tournament rake doesn't appear to be skyrocketing across the board, but lower-stakes players are getting squeezed more heavily. Players may need to pay closer attention to the fee structure when deciding which tournaments are worth playing.
What do you think? Are live tournament fees getting too high, especially at the lower buy-in levels? Would you rather play a $500 tournament with a high rake or take a shot at a $1,000 event with a lower percentage going to fees?
Source: https://www.cardplayer.com/poker-ne...rake-is-going-up-but-mostly-at-smaller-stakes
The overall trend is that rake has increased at most tournament levels, although the increases are generally fairly small. The biggest impact appears to be at the lower buy-in levels.
For example, the WSOP $500 Colossus has gone from a 11.50% rake in 2015 to 17% today, while a roughly $400 Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood multi-flight event increased from 14.29% to 18%. By comparison, some larger tournaments have seen much smaller increases, remained unchanged, or even decreased.
At the $1,000 level, the WSOP $1,000 event went from 11.70% in 2015 to 12% today, while the PokerStars $1,100 event increased from 11.81% to 12.73%.
Interestingly, the analysis suggests that some winning players could actually have a better ROI in $1,000 tournaments compared with $500 events, assuming the player pools are reasonably similar. The higher buy-in means the rake represents a smaller percentage of the entry fee, leaving more of the buy-in available for the prize pool.
That could make tournament selection even more important for smaller-stakes players. A few percentage points of additional rake can make a significant difference for players who are only achieving a modest ROI.
The article also points out that increased rake combined with more reentries and longer late-registration periods can cause players to burn through their bankrolls faster.
Overall, live tournament rake doesn't appear to be skyrocketing across the board, but lower-stakes players are getting squeezed more heavily. Players may need to pay closer attention to the fee structure when deciding which tournaments are worth playing.
What do you think? Are live tournament fees getting too high, especially at the lower buy-in levels? Would you rather play a $500 tournament with a high rake or take a shot at a $1,000 event with a lower percentage going to fees?
Source: https://www.cardplayer.com/poker-ne...rake-is-going-up-but-mostly-at-smaller-stakes
