Official start Pokahnights in Middelkerke -
from Monday, June 16, 2025

After a smashing opening weekend from June 13 to 15, the official Pokahnights operation will start on Monday, June 16 in our brand new Pokahroom Middelkerke. From that day on, we will be using the new rake model, a collaboration between Pokahnights VZW and Casino Middelkerke Betfirst.

Rake model Pokahnights

As a player, what do you pay to participate in Pokahnights' live poker events?
At Pokahnights, we are committed every day to providing you, the player, with the best possible experience. But such an experience doesn't happen by itself.

To participate in our live events, you pay a contribution that not only grants access to the tournament but also directly contributes to enabling the unique Pokahnights environment. We strive for a model that provides maximum value for players while also providing sufficient operating resources. The membership fees from players are invested in 5 areas.

We provide attractive venues, with all the necessary amenities, to ensure a good poker experience.

Locations

A dedicated team of more than 20 staff members is committed to supporting the club and players every single day.

Teamies

We invest continuously in technology to maximize player comfort.

Technology

We built a strong framework around our events through rankings, achievements and leagues. This ensures a challenging and a sports-like experience.

Sportify

We regularly provide unique tournaments, added giveaway events and unprecedented promotions.

Actions

In short: your contribution as a player is not just a ticket, it is an investment in a club that wants to move forward, in a growing community, and in the future of live poker in Belgium.

Pokahroom Antwerp

A combination of an annual membership fee and a low rake
This means we only organize self-deal events at this location, with a maximum buy-in of €50. To support the operation of this room, we apply an annual membership fee and a very reasonable rake for the tournaments themselves. We offer 3 different buy-ins: €35, €40, and €50, with a corresponding rake of €4, €5, or €6. This results in an average of 12%, one of the more competitive percentages on the market.

General Specifications

Buy-in options

Pokahroom Middelkerke

A three-part full 360° live poker offer
Pokahroom Middelkerke is a poker casino. This means we support a complete live poker experience tailored to every type of player. We operate around 3 pillars:

  • self-deal club poker tournaments of 50 euros with a maximum of one re-entry

  • Casino live poker tournaments starting from €125, with dealers and multiple re-entries

  • Cash games starting from €2/€2 with a €10 cap, also dealer-assisted

Each pillar has its own rake model to ensure that we can provide maximum value to the live poker community.

CLUB POKER: 12% RAKE & NO MEMBERSHIP FEE

  • Each club poker tournament has a buyin of 50 euros.

  • We apply 12% rake, or 6 euros, for each entry.

  • There is no membership fee to participate in club poker tournaments.

  • A maximum of 1 re-entry is allowed in Club Poker tournaments.

General Specifications

Buy-in options

CASINO POKER: 8% RAKE & 20 EURO MEMBERSHIP FEE PER GAME DAY

  • Casino poker tournaments start at a buy-in of €125.

  • We apply an average of 8% rake, for each entry.

  • A one-time membership fee of 20 euros per day is required to participate in the casino poker tournaments. For longer multi-day events and multi-day festival series, adjusted formulas will be applied depending on the specific program.

  • All the prize money is distributed among the players, there are no other fees or costs that go out of the prize pool. In Pokahroom Middelkerke we choose a 100% transparent policy so that everyone is perfectly informed.

The daily membership fees paid are the source of income for Pokahnights ASBL. These funds are used to guarantee our works on the 5 domains above. By operating the casino, we have been able to guarantee probably the lowest rake in Europe. Like us, Casino Middelkerke Betfirst wants to bet on poker with a strong offer and competitive rates. The membership fee is a one-time fee per day, regardless of how many entries or participations you make in one or more live casino tournaments.

General Specifications

Buy-in options

CASH GAMES: RAKE IN SLICES & A LOW CAP PER HAND

  • The most commonly offered cash games are 2€/2€ or 5€/5€

  • On request, 5€/10€ or 10€/20€ can be played

  • Depending on the stakes, pots are segmented into tiers of €20, €100, or more. The tier a pot falls into determines the rake. The higher the table stakes, the lower the rake percentage.

  • For each table stake there is a cap per hand provided, that is, the rake of a hand will never be higher than the cap.

  • No membership fee is required to participate in cash games.

Examples

Transparency, clarity and no surprises
We believe it’s important that every player is fully informed about the rake model used in the different Pokahrooms of Pokahnights. Below, we provide a few examples. If you still have questions about our model, don’t hesitate to contact us.

  • New players pay a one-time fee of €15. This gives them access to the club's operations for one year. Jan participated in the Crazy Eights event with a €40 buy-in and did not re-enter. In total, Jan spent €55: €15 as the membership fee for the non-profit, €5 rake, and €35 for the prize pool.

    Jan enjoyed the experience and decided to come back two weeks later to play the same event. He no longer had to pay the membership fee, only the tournament buy-in. He paid €40 in total: €35 for the prize pool and €5 as rake to support the operations of the non-profit.

  • Naima felt like enjoying a day of live poker. She already knows the game quite well and headed to Pokahroom Middelkerke, where two events were on the schedule. She did 2 entries in The Queens Millions with a buy-in of €175 and also played once in the Famous Fives in the evening, with a buy-in of €375.

    Naima paid a one-time €20 membership fee. In addition, she paid €15 rake twice for The Queens Millions and €30 once for the Famous Fives — a total of €60. Altogether, €665 of her total budget went into the prize pool.
    She spent €745 over the whole day. €80 of that did not go into the prize pool. This amounts to 10.73%, a very competitive percentage for a premium casino poker offering.

  • Vincent was dealt AA at the €5/€5 cash game table. Luck was on his side, as two other players also had strong hands. After plenty of action, there was €640 in the pot. The dealer pushed €620 to him and took €20 in rake.

    At the €5/€5 cash game tables, we apply a cap of €20 once the pot exceeds €395, which was the case here. So a rake of 3.12% was taken, a very reasonable percentage for cash games.

    Not long after, Vincent played another nice hand. The pot grew to €375. He received €360, and €15 was taken as rake. That’s right, the pot didn’t exceed €395, so it was placed in the second tier, resulting in €15 or 4% rake.