Head-to-Head and 50/50 Rake Analysis
This article presents the current state of rake in the most popular cash games in the industry. For those newer to the industry, let’s take a quick look at some terminology you need to know before we look at the numbers:
50/50s: Sometimes referred to as 2x, 50/50s are games where half the field gets paid at slightly less than double the buy-in amount
Double-ups: Some sites regard double-ups the same as 50/50s so be careful, but double-ups are when slightly less than half the field gets paid at exactly double the buy-in amount
Head-to-head (H2H): A two player winner-take-all game where the winner gets paid slightly less than double buy-in amount
Triple Up: Sometimes referred to as 3x, triples ups come in two forms: either when slightly less than a third of players get paid exactly triple the buy-in or exactly one third of players get paid slightly less than one third the buy-in amount. You will need to examine the payout structure of each game as sites normally do not distinguish between the two by name.
Rake Analysis: FanDuel, DraftStreet, DraftKings, DraftDay
Rake Analysis: StarStreet, FanThrowdown, Fantasy Feud
As you can see rake normally starts decreasing at the $109 level and above. If you have the bankroll targeting these higher stakes games makes sense. However this is usually balanced by the fact that the higher stakes games are more populated with better and more experienced players (although this is not always the case).
My personal tastes is that I prefer to play heavier on sites that offer the $11/$22/$55 games rather than $10/$20/$50 as rake is reduced from 10.0% to 9.1%. I also do not go heavy on triple up and quintuple up games as they have the highest rake in the industry.
It should be mentioned that all rake figures can and should be reduced by bonuses and rakeback. Probably more important than targeting low rake is targeting sites that offer the best bonuses and rakeback. Game selection is also very important. Assuming these two bases are covered, then you can examine the rake in each game and make a determination as to which are worth your DFS business.