Effective January 1 2015, Playtech’s online poker wing, iPoker Network, is to introduce a new rake structure designed to better attract purely recreational players to its skins.
Dubbed “Source Based Rake” the new structure is based on the idea that recreational, net-depositing players are currently undervalued, whilst the more predatory professionals generate significant rake but often cash out more than they deposit, thus disturbing the “ecology” of the network.
The conclusion in terms of network economics is apparently that recreational players are more important in terms of rake and liquidity, and should therefore be the focus of the network’s financial strategy.
One industry observer has estimated that some professional player-heavy skins could see revenues decline by as much as half under the new rake structure, with serious consequences for business.