Consider these two methods of collecting "rake"for the house:

1. Traditional rake of $X flat per hand (i.e, $5 per hand if a flop is seen)
2. Tax the winners of the game X% of their net profit for the session, but no rake/hand.

So, in case 2, the winners of the game will be paying all the rake to the house at the end. The losers will feel like they at least didn't pay any rake.

What are the pros/cons with each methodology? Obviously, the consistent winners of the game would prefer case 1. But, to entice the losers to keep playing, or attract new losers to the game, what is the tipping point that the winners could accept in case 2 to keep playing? What level would the winners tax have to be set at to allow the winners to maintain their current win rates? Is having one donkey in the lineup enough, or do the winners need 4 or 5 guys dumping off cash each week? Does average stack depth people are playing with influence this calculation? Short handed vs full ring? PLO vs NL Holdem? Any thoughts on this would be appreciated!

Rake and home poker just don't seem right to me. $5 per hands on a flop sounds like at least a $1-$2 game, and taking hundreds of dollars in rake per session. Not quite home poker, more underground poker room.

That being said:

I don't like 2. I think most losers either don't realize how much they lose, how often they lose and/or don't want to be embarrassed by it being known when they cash out. I think it's a sure way to drive them out.

It also shines light on the amount of rake taken off the table. Most players aren't going to realize how much rake they pay through the session, but tax them at the end to make up for all the hands played, they may revolt. After 100 hands have been played to a flop, you are expecting to take $500 off the table. How much do you think players are going to be up after 100 hands? What percentage of the winnings is $500 going to be?

Managing the stacks could also be an issue. If I'm playing with a buddy, and one of us is up and the other down, it makes sense for the up player to dump chips at the end to the player that it down. Pay less on the "winnings' and have the chips dumped returned to the winner. IE I'm up $150 and my buddy is down $100. I dump $100 to him, pay tax on the $50 and collect the $100 back from him outside.

If you don't want to rake per hand, do a time charge.

Or a seat charge for the session, if you must rake the game for expenses in a home game or for profit in an underground room.