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Staking


Staking is becoming increasingly popular in the poker world. Poker forums are now filled with threads about people offering stakes and people looking for stakes. In short, a stake is when somebody gives another player the money to enter a tournament, cash game or funds them with a full bankroll in exchange for part of their action, normally 50%. This gives people who may be down on their luck or unable to deposit, a great chance to make some money without any risk whatsoever. There are a few drawbacks and benefits to staking though, which we shall go through now. Before you get in to a staking deal with someone you will also have to decide how you will split things like poker bonuses that you clear and rakeback payments that you will receive.

We will start with the benefits

Risk Free Money

If you have been accepted by somebody and are now being staked, you have absolutely nothing to risk when playing poker. You have convinced the person of your skills and now have a free bankroll to play with. This will often take a lot of pressure off of the player and allow them to play their best game, therefore winning a lot more money.

Coaching

Sometimes the player who has staked another will coach their students to help them win more money with the stake available. This is a great opportunity for any player who wants to move up levels or is struggling at their current level. Coaching is fairly expensive to purchase, so receiving quality, free help is a huge added bonus to being staked, especially if the coach is a high stakes profitable player.

Helps people get back into the action

There are numerous winning players out there that for some reason or another, cannot deposit to play poker. Staking gives them the opportunity to play poker at their desired level, without having to grind their way back up, and make some serious cash for both parties involved. A person looking to stake would count himself lucky for find a winning player who is down on his luck and cannot afford to play.

Now we will go through the drawbacks

Added pressure

If you are a person with a conscience, a losing period whilst being staked will make you feel incredibly bad. This is because somebody has put their faith and money in you and the results aren’t showing. This can make the relationship deteriorate but often the stake will understand and may even think it is acceptable for such a run to occur.

Security

Security and trust is a must for both parties involved. When you are receiving a stake, you must pass over account information to the person staking you. Some people feel uncomfortable doing so, but there is no other way around it. You have to ensure you trust your partner 100% before going ahead with the stake; otherwise it could end leaving somebody short changed.

Don’t receive 100% of your action

This is probably the biggest drawback. When you are on a heater, or a profitable period, you will not receive all of the money. Although this is all agreed before the stake commences, many people find it highly down heartening to transfer so much of their winnings away each month. Also if they make a big tournament finish, having to transfer half of the funds can be incredibly tough after playing several hours to get there.