Russian poker

How to Play

Definitely a game changer. Once introduced in the 1990's, it gave a Vip status to all its players.
If you love poker games and want to feel like a VIP, you must try this.

Russian poker is a casino game played with a 52-card deck, based on poker hands, where you play against the house.
To start the game, all you need is to place an ante bet, and you get your first five cards.
All players having ante bet will get five cards, and the dealer as well. Your advantage is that the dealer always reveals his top card, so all players can see it.
Once you have seen your five cards, you have a few choices. Keep your five cards as they are, change 1, 2, 3, 4, or even all five cards, paying the same amount as your ante bet, buy a sixth card, and play poker with six cards, or maybe you just don’t feel lucky this time, and you want to fold your cards.

Once you have decided to continue the game, you need to place a bet which is double the amount of your ante bet and wait to see if your cards are beating dealer’s cards.
In order for the dealer to qualify, he must have an ace & king or higher.

If the dealer doesn't have ace & king or higher, you have two options: either you are going to get your ante bet paid, or your hand is just too good for an ante payout, then you can buy a card for the dealer. You will bet an equal amount as your ante, and the dealer will draw another card, replacing the highest one of his five cards. If he qualifies with that card, you're going to get your bet paid if the card he draws is the same as the highest one he's replacing, he draws another one, and another if the same occasion occurs, until he takes out all four same cards of the deck. If the dealer doesn't qualify, you get to keep the money you have on your ante bet and your play bet.

When buying a six-card, you can make two combinations in one hand and get them both paid
If your higher combination beats the dealer's combination.

To get both combinations paid, it means that at least one card is not used in the higher combination in Russian poker, even ace & king is calculated as a pair. Once your higher combinations beats dealers cards and you have an ace & king where the ace or the king is not used in the original combination, you get a 1-to-1 extra payout for your ace & king.
Imagine getting paid two flushes out of six cards, two straights maybe, two full houses
And so many more combinations where it feels you can't lose this one.
To make sure you have more options, this is where the insurance comes into play.
You have a good hand, but you feel the dealer won't qualify, so you insure your bet.
It means you can bet a maximum of half of the possible payout of your combination.
If the dealer doesn’t qualify, you get your insurance paid 1 to 1, and it doesn’t stop there. Now you still have the chance to buy a card for the dealer, and if he qualifies, you're going to get your bet paid as well. That’s a double win or even a triple when you have two combinations in your hand. If the dealer qualifies and you both have identical combinations ante and play bets are push and the insurance bet is lost. If the dealer's hand is better than yours ante and play bet are losing and you get your insurance bet back.

BASIC PAY TABLE

ROYAL FLUSH

100 to 1

STRAIGHT

4 to 1

STRAIGHT FLUSH

50 to 1

THREE OF A KIND

3 to 1

FOUR OF A KIND

20 to 1

TWO PAIRS

2 to 1

FULL HOUSE

7 to 1

ONE PAIR

1 to 1

FLUSH

5 to 1

ACE & KING (ONLY AS EXTRA PAIR)

1 to 1

TWO COMBINATIONS WITH SIX CARDS PAY TABLE

ROYAL FLUSH + STRAIGHT FLUSH = 150 to 1

FOUR OF KIND + FULL HOUSE = 27 to 1

FLUSH + ACE & KING = 6 to 1

ROYAL FLUSH + FLUSH = 105 to 1

FOUR OF KIND + ACE & KING = 21 to 1

STRAIGHT + STRAIGHT = 8 to 1

ROYAL FLUSH + STRAIGHT = 104 to 1

FULL HOUSE + FULL HOUSE = 14 to 1

STRAIGHT + ACE & KING = 5 to 1

STRAIGHT FLUSH + STRAIGHT FLUSH = 100 to 1

FULL HOUSE + ACE & KING = 8 to 1

THREE OF A KIND + ACE & KING = 4 to 1

STRAIGHT FLUSH + FLUSH = 55 to 1

FLUSH + FLUSH = 10 to 1

TWO PAIR + ONE PAIR = 3 to 1

STRAIGHT FLUSH + STRAIGHT = 54 to 1

FLUSH + STRAIGHT = 9 to 1

TWO PAIR + ACE & KING = 3 to 1

STRAIGHT FLUSH + ACE & KING = 51 to 1

FLUSH + ONE PAIR = 6 to 1

ONE PAIR + ACE & KING = 2 to 1

NOT MORE THAN TWO COMBINATIONS WILL BE PAID FOR IN A SINGLE HAND