Soon after the launch of the new Strobe Poker on Ongame, network owner Amaya has announced a rake reduction of 20%.
Only two Strobe pools are currently running: NL10 and NL30. At NL10, the standard rake of 6.66% is reduced to 5% on Strobe; at NL30, 5% rake is reduced to 4%.
When higher level Strobe pools roll out, the 4% rake will also apply. Rake caps remain the same at $3.
Unusually, Strobe seats five players at each table, a throwback to 2011 when all short-handed Ongame tables were 5-max. The lower seats should keep players moving around tables with less wait at times when the player pool is lower.
Fast-fold games in general generate more rake than standard games: Average stack sizes tend to be higher, leading to higher average pot sizes. Ongame’s five handed tables should also mean more flops, as players play more hands, creating more post-flop situations and larger pots.
25%+ increases in rake/hand are commonly observed in fast-fold games. The rake reduction should compensate for this, bringing observed rake closer to that of normal tables.
Of course, the higher rate of hands—a player at a single table can play two to three times more hands over an hour—means that, even with the reduction, Strobe tables should deliver significantly more rake per player hour.
The rake reduction strategy makes eminent sense for Amaya. It is late to market with a fast-fold poker variant, and needs to attract players from other sites.
In January Ongame ended its segregation policy, bringing players from all skins into a single liquidity pool. The introduction of Strobe helps make the most of that liquidity.
Site traffic at Ongame has declined by ~50% in the last six months, according to the latest PokerScout traffic figures. Average cash game players are down from over 1500 to 750, and the rate of decline has accelerated since the New Year.
