Russian Poker Online

Russian Poker is a variety of Poker offered in many online play rooms and, to a lesser extent, in some traditional casinos. By and large the rules of Russian Poker are similar to those of the classic American Poker, except in the online game of Russian Poker only one player plays, competing against the dealer. Accordingly, the goal of the game becomes slightly different: you now have to beat the dealer by building a higher hand. Russian Poker has many features facilitating winning opportunities: for example, a player is allowed to replace any number of cards and even buy the sixth card. A standard 52-card deck is used in this Poker game.

General principles

The interface of any online Poker game is sort of self-explanatory, and even a beginner should have no difficulty playing Russian Poker. As in many other Poker games, the rules of Russian Poker require that before the game begins, players make a mandatory bet, an ‘ante.’ Once the ante is placed, a player presses the ’deal’ button and is dealt five cards face up. After this, the main bets are set.

The dealer also deals himself five cards, the last one face up. On the first round, players have several options as to how to act further: they may ‘fold’ (withdraw from the game) and lose the ante, stay in the game by raising the bet, exchange any number of his or her cards, or buy the sixth card. Note that each player always has an opportunity to exchange the card (even all five of them); the price of doing that is one ante. The same principles apply to buying the sixth card.

Once the final bet has been matched, the players and the dealer reveal their cards. The determination of the winner is made by using a standard Poker method, and the player with the highest hand wins. In one instance, however, a player wins by default if the dealer fails to build any winning hand or an ace / king pair. In this case the player receives an award in the amount of one ante.

In all other cases, including a situation when the dealer holds an ace / king pair, the winner is determined by comparing the players’ hands, and the player that built the highest hand, wins the game.

The hands ranking in Russian Poker is identical to the ranking used in any other Poker game: royal flush, straight flush, four of a kind and onward, in descending order, to an ace / king pair. The wining player receives an award in accordance with the payout schedule: the higher the hand, the bigger the payout.

The payout schedule in Russian Poker is as follows:

Rules

Even an experienced gambler should keep in mind that when Russian Poker is played for cash, especially in online casinos, a number of special rules apply.

Double Combination Rule. If a player chooses to buy the sixth card in the first round, a total of six, not five, cards will be in the player’s possession. As a result, the number of winning combinations may double, revealing the most distinct feature of Russian Poker. The second combination may only be built from the cards that have not been included in the first combination. If two combinations have been created, the award increases, and a payout is given for each of the combinations based on the schedule.

Multiple Hands Rule. The table in Russian Poker has a total of six boxes, so that a player, if he or she so wishes, may build multiple hands (up to three at a time). Different rules apply to different boxes (for example, only blind bets may be placed in the third box), but the number of cards dealt to each box remains the same: five. However, the amount of a bet in different boxes may vary. A player may make the minimum bet in the first box, while making the maximum bet in the second one. Boxes are dealt with in a consecutive order: once a player has made a decision concerning the first hand, the player proceeds to the second hand.