Casino Cashback & Rakeback Offers Explained

Two types of common online casino rewards are cashback and rakeback. These are ways that a player can get a little bit of a return on their bets and losses while playing games like slots or poker.

While both of these offers sound similar, there are actually differences between the two, from how they work to how much players will get back. 

What Is Casino Rakeback?

Let’s start with rakeback, which is a term used in the poker world but can also be applied to other casino games, too. Every game played has a built-in house edge, which is basically an advantage the casino has, and is the bread and butter of the industry. In poker, this is called the rake – a small cut the platform takes from every pot or a percentage of a tournament entry fee.

Rakeback is a reward system that gives back a portion of the house edge (or rake) to the players. Whether someone wins or loses, rakeback pays out a fixed percentage based on how they’ve bet. The more they play, the more rakeback they get. 

For example, if a player bets £1,000 on games with a 2% house edge, and the casino offers 5% rakeback, they’d get £1 back, regardless of whether they win or not. It’s a way of offering a little more value to players, especially for the high rollers. 

What Is Casino Cashback?

Cashback is kind of similar, but it works a bit differently. Rather than rewarding players based on how much they pay, casino cashback gives back a percentage of their losses during a specific time period. This is basically a way for platforms to soften the blow for those going through a dry spell and haven’t been winning much. 

Let’s say an online casino offers 10% cashback on weekly losses, and a user is down £100 for the week, they’d get £10 back. Even if the offer is a smaller 5%, they still get £5 back, which is better than nothing.

This kind of cashback can be given as real cash or as bonus funds. Getting real cash offers is less common as it comes without wagering requirements. Bonus funds, however, typically come with conditions or limits on what games they can be used on. 

Rakeback vs Cashback: What’s the Difference?

Rakeback and cashback may sound similar, but they both focus on different areas. Rakeback is calculated from the house edge (or rake) taken on every bet, so even if a player breaks even or wins, they still earn something back just for playing. Cashback, on the other hand, only kicks in when a player isn’t having a great session.  Rakeback is more common in poker and other online casino games, while cashback is often part of promotional offers aimed at retaining players and trying to soften the sting of dry spells.