Premise of the Game
Russian poker is a card game the objective of which is to get a higher hand than the dealer does.
The deck has 52 cards from Twos to Aces in each suit. The highest card is an Ace, the lowest is a Two. The deck is shuffled before dealing.
How to Play in One Box
The player competes with the dealer. There are six boxes on the table. Each box has two fields for bets. One of them is called ANTE (pre-bet), the other is called BET (the bet itself).
Before dealing the player makes a pre-bet by putting one or more chips on ANTE field. For this the player needs to click on a corresponding chip and a box in which he would like to place the bet or choose a chip and drag it to the box. Antes must be between 1 and 100. After this the player presses Deal.
The dealer draws five cards for himself and the player. The cards are alternately dealt face-down except the dealer’s last card.
The player looks at the cards and evaluates his hand. Eventually the player will have to compare his hand to the dealer’s. A higher hand wins. The dealer’s opened card is the only information available to the player.
Poker Hands
Every hand is evaluated against one of the 10 poker combinations. A combination is defined by the value of its cards as well as by their suits. The order in which the cards are received does not matter. The below combinations are ranged according to their rank. For your convenience here are descriptions of the combinations:
- Royal Flush – the highest poker hand: 5 highest cards in one suit (Ace-King-Queen-Jack-10).
- Straight Flush – straight in one suit.
- Four of a Kind – 4 cards of the same rank, for example, 4 Jacks or 4 Fives (plus one extra card).
- Full or Full House – 3 cards of the same rank and 2 of another, for example, 6-6-6-King-King.
- Flush – 5 cards in the same suit.
- Straight – 5 successive cards, for example, 9-8-7-6-5. Suits do not matter. An ace can be both the highest card (Ace-King-Queen-Jack-10) and the lowest card in a combination (5-4-3-2-Ace). Ace within the combination does not make up a Straight (e.g. 3-2-Ace-King-Queen).
- Three of a Kind – 3 cards of the same rank, for example, 9-9-9-Queen-4.
- Two Pairs – two cards of one rank and two of another, for example, Ace-Ace-5-5-10.
- One Pair – two cards of one rank, for example, 8-8-King-4-2.
- Ace-King – an ace and a king in any suits, for example, Ace-King-8-7-3.
- No Hand – cards do not make any of the above combinations, for example, Jack-10-7-5-2.
The higher the combination, the higher the hand. If two hands have the same combinations, they are valued as in a regular poker by the rank of the cards.
A few examples:
- Pair 5-5-4-3-2 is higher than 4-4-Ace-King-Queen (only values of paired cards are compared);
- Pair 5-5-Queen-3-2 is higher than 5-5-Jack-10-9 (Queen is higher than Jack);
- Two Pairs Ace-Ace-2-2-3 is higher than King-King-Queen-Queen-Ace (the values of the higher paired cards are compared);
- Straight King-Queen-Jack-10 is the highest, 5-4-3-2-Ace is the lowest;
- Full 3-3-3-2-2 is higher than 2-2-2-Ace-Ace (the value of Three of a Kind is higher than Pair).
There are no priorities among the suits. That is why two pairs of the same rank have the same value. For example, Hearts Flush Royal counts the same as Clubs Royal Flush.
After looking at his hand, a player decides which of the four possible actions to take:
Decision 1. Fold immediately. The player presses Fold and ANTE is lost. The game is over.
Decision 2. Continue playing with the cards he has.
If this is the case, then the player presses Bet, which automatically makes the bet twice his ANTE. Sometimes the described procedure is called 'Raising the Ante'.
Decision 3. Buy a sixth card by clicking Buy In so that the hand would be better. During comparison to the dealer's hand only the player's strongest five-card combination will be counted. For example, in the hand of Queen-Queen-Queen-Queen-8-8, the last eight will not be counted. The sixth card buying-in costs one ANTE.
Decision 4. Try to change cards in order to get a better hand. The player can change up to five cards. In order to change cards you need choose them by clicking on them, and then press Change. The change of all cards costs one ANTE. You get the same number of new cards from the dealer.
After either buying in or changing, the player evaluates his/her hand again and if the change has been successful, he/she makes Decision 2. If not, then the player can only make Decision 1 that is to stop the game. There are no more alternatives left.
For buying in and changing there is also one restriction: change of cards will be impossible at all, if there is not enough money in the player’s account to make a bet afterwards.
After the player’s decision the dealer opens his cards. If there is a card combination in the dealer’s hand, then his cards are compared to those of the player’s. If the player’s hand is lower, he/she loses his wager. When equal hands occur, the player keeps his/her bets. The most interesting things start to happen when the dealer loses.
Unlike Oasis Poker, in Russian Poker the Ante is not paid if the dealer has got a combination. However, the bet pays off according to the poker combination. Here is the Payoff Table:
| Hand | Pays |
| Royal Flush | 100:1 |
| Straight Flush | 50:1 |
| Four of a Kind | 20:1 |
| Full or Full House | 7:1 |
| Flush | 5:1 |
| Straight | 4:1 |
| Three of a Kind | 3:1 |
| Two Pairs | 2:1 |
| One Pair | 1:1 |
| Ace-King | 1:1 |
If ANTE is 10 (which means the BET is 20), the player’s total winnings with Full House are 140. For Royal Flush the player gets 2000.
Second Poker Hand
Let us find the main difference of Russian Poker from Oasis Poker. In Russian Poker except the winning hand the player's hand can have a second poker combination that will be paid too. In this case at least one card from the second combination should not be included into the first combination.
Here are a few examples:
- Ace-Ace-King-8-9 : One Pair(Ace-Ace) + Ace-King(Ace-King) pay 2 to 1.
- 2-2-Ace-King-9 : One Pair(2-2) + Ace-King(Ace-King) pay 2 to 1.
- Ace-Ace-Ace-Ace-7-7 : Four of a Kind(Ace-Ace-Ace-Ace) + Full House(Ace-Ace-Ace-7-7) pay 27 to 1.
- Ace-King-Queen-Jack-10-9 : Straight(Ace-King-Queen-Jack-10) + Straight(King-Queen-Jack-10-9) pay 8 to 1. If all cards are of the same suit then it is Royal Flush + Straight Flush and pay 150 to 1.
- Ace-Ace-Ace-Ace-9 : Four of a Kind pays 20 to 1. You cannot consider this combination as Four of a Kind(Ace-Ace-Ace-Ace) + Three of a Kind(Ace-Ace-Ace), because all cards of the second would-be combination are part of the first one.
The Dealer Does Not Qualify
The above is when the dealer has a poker combination. If this is not the case, then the player’s cards do not matter and it is said that 'The dealer does not qualify'. In either case, the player wins, even if he has 'No hand'. His winnings will equal his Ante. However, such winnings will look bleak if the player has Four of a Kind or Straight Flush. In Russian Poker the player can try to change the situation by buying the game for the dealer.
If the dealer does not qualify, he offers the player to buy the game for him by paying for one of the dealer's cards change. The dealer discards the highest card in his hand and takes one from the deck. If the dealer gets a combination, the hands are compared and winnings , if any, are paid. If after the change, the dealer still does not qualify, then the player gets back his bet only. Even the Ante is not paid.
Game in Multiple Boxes
All the above rules are for one-box game. Now let us see what is different in a multiple boxes game:
The player can buy up to 3 boxes. With this the player can choose any 6 boxes on the poker table. The third box always plays closed, that is the player puts Ante and his Bet on it. Bets in boxes do not correlate. You can put 1 in the first box and a 100 in the second one.
Once bets are made, the dealer draws 5 cards for himself and for each bought box, face down. Then the dealer opens his last card.
The player analyses the cards in the first box and takes one of the four decisions. Only after that you can view cards in the second box.
In the first and second boxes, the player can make one change or one buy-in. In the third box you can neither buy-in nor change nor fold. The third box always plays. Just like in a one-box game, the sixth card buy-in or change of cards costs one Ante.
You cannot buy in or change cards if afterwards you will not have enough money to make a bet in the current box. If after the change in the first box you are still unable to make a bet in the second box, you can only do one thing that is to Fold.
When the player makes a decision about the current box whether to play or fold, the cards in the next box are revealed and the game moves to it. If the next box is the third one or if the current box is the last one bought by the player, then it is the dealer’s turn to play. The dealer opens his cards and compares them with those of the player’s.
If the dealer does not qualify, the player can buy the game for the dealer. This decision is made separately by the player for each box. The purchase of the game for the dealer costs one Ante per box. When the dealer's game is bought, you can change one card only. Boxes with purchased game pay according to the change results, the others pay the Ante only.
Each box pays independently of the rest.
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