GGPoker vs PokerStars rakeback 2026

GGPoker vs PokerStars rakeback side by side

Rakeback is the part of the rake that a poker room hands back to you. GGPoker states its return as a percentage for each of eight Ocean Rewards levels. PokerStars works with a progress bar that fills as you pay rake and opens a chest when it is full, and the chest level sets the share of rake that comes back.

The level pages go into more depth: see GGPoker rakeback and PokerStars rewards.

How each room turns rake into points

At GGPoker, every $1 of rake and tournament fees earns 100 Tide Points. Your Tide Points total for the calendar year decides your Ocean Rewards level, which runs from Fish to Shark. GGPoker calls the percentage at each level Estimated Cashback, so treat it as the room's own estimate and not a fixed contract rate.

At PokerStars, you join Stars Rewards once by pressing Start Now. Cash game rake earns 100 Reward Points per $1. Tournament fees earn points too, and every full bar opens a chest at your current level.

Levels and how you keep them

• GGPoker resets Tide Points at the start of each calendar year, keeps your level until the end of the following year and moves you down at the start of a year if you miss the target.
• GGPoker publishes one threshold on its site, 200,000 Tide Points a year for Turtle, which carries an estimated ≈40%, and shows the other targets inside the client.
• PokerStars has six chest levels, from Blue Chest at 15% through Bronze, Silver, Gold and Diamond to Black Chest at 40%, plus two Select levels that pay daily cash.
• PokerStars moves you up a chest level when you open enough chests within a rolling period and moves you down when a period passes without one.

The GGPoker system rewards steady volume across a whole year. The PokerStars system reacts faster, in both directions, to how much you played recently.

What you receive and when

GGPoker credits cashback as GEMs. You exchange GEMs for cash whenever you choose, at 1,000 GEMs for $1 on smaller exchanges, with better rates on larger ones. In some regions you have to opt in to Ocean Rewards by hand before points count.

PokerStars pays when the bar fills and a chest opens. Each chest has a fixed value for its level, so the return per dollar of rake changes only when your chest level changes. PokerStars Select and Select+ skip the chests and pay cash every day.

Rake at $0.05/$0.10 No-Limit Hold'em

At NL10 (No-Limit Hold'em, $0.05/$0.10 blinds), GGPoker takes 5% of the pot, capped at $$1 at tables of five or more players. PokerStars takes 5% at the same stakes, capped at $$1, and 4.25% in Pot-Limit Omaha.

A lower rake percentage and a lower cap both reduce what you pay before any rakeback is counted. GGPoker caps rise with the stakes, reaching $$6 at $1/$2.

What $400 of monthly rake returns

Say you pay $400 in rake in a month at GGPoker and sit at the Fish level, where the estimate is ≈16%. That month returns about ≈$64 in GEMs, or ≈$768 over a year at the same pace.

The same $400 at PokerStars returns 15% at Blue Chest, the entry level, which is close to the GGPoker Fish estimate. Higher chest levels return more, up to 40% at Black Chest. Enter your own rake in the rakeback calculator to model the GGPoker side.

Where GGPoker and PokerStars accept players

GGPoker is available in the United Kingdom, Belgium, the Netherlands and Sweden, each through a local site, and accepts players from Canada and Ireland as an offshore room.

PokerStars runs licensed sites in the United Kingdom, France, Belgium, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, Sweden and Italy, and accepts players from Canada and Ireland through its international site. In the United States it is restricted to a small number of regulated states. Segregated local sites can run their own version of the rewards program.

Which room fits which player

GGPoker fits a player who wants to know the return in advance, plays steadily through the year and is happy to exchange GEMs for cash. Its published estimates make it easy to compare with other rooms in the poker rakeback comparison.

PokerStars fits a player who lives in France, Portugal or another market where GGPoker is not on the list above, plays in bursts and prefers a reward that reacts to recent activity. Its published rates run from 15% at Blue Chest to 60% at Select+. A related matchup on the same GG Network is GGPoker vs Natural8.

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