Russian poker live is a five-card stud game against a live dealer where you can change your hand. You can fold, play, buy a sixth card or swap cards, and a winning Bet pays up to 100:1 on a royal flush. For the wider market picture, start at our online casino Canada hub.
The table sets out the russian poker live numbers a Canadian player checks first. Each line traces to a source named in the sections below.
| Trait | Detail |
|---|---|
| Studios | Ezugi, BetConstruct, Creedroomz and others |
| Deck | One 52-card deck, shuffled every game (Ezugi) |
| Players | Unlimited |
| Main bets | Ante, then a Bet of 2 Antes to play |
| Hand changes | Sixth card or swap, 1 Ante each |
| Dealer qualifies | Ace-King or better |
| Top pay | 100:1 royal flush, 150:1 royal plus straight flush |
| RTP | 98.23% (Ezugi) |
What is russian poker live?
Russian poker live is a house-banked poker game where you try to beat the dealer’s five-card hand. Live Casino Comparer says both sides get five cards, but only the player can improve a hand, by buying a sixth card or swapping cards.
Russian poker live is played against the house, not against other players. BetConstruct says that is why an unlimited number of players can sit at one table.
Live Casino Comparer sums it up in one line: on the surface it looks complicated, but it is Casino Hold’em with the option to buy or swap cards to strengthen the hand.
Where did Russian Poker come from?
Livedealers.com says the game is thought to have appeared in Russia in the early nineties. It describes live Russian Poker as a variant of Oasis Poker, a five-card stud game against the dealer.
The name is the main link between russian poker live and Russia. The rules sit in the same family as Caribbean Stud, with the added right to change cards.
Land-based casinos still deal it. The table in our photo, with Ante and Bet boxes at each seat, is a physical Russian Poker layout.
Who offers russian poker live?
Several live studios. Live Casino Comparer reviews Ezugi’s version and says it was formerly called Royal Poker at Ezugi, while BetConstruct and Creedroomz each list their own live Russian Poker tables.
Live Casino Comparer stresses that Ezugi Russian Poker and Russian Poker are the same game. Players who know one version will have no trouble with the other.
The russian poker live rules on this page follow the Ezugi version unless a source says otherwise. Other studios can differ on side bets and table layout.
BetConstruct describes its version as more a casino game than poker, since the play comes down to poker hands against the house. The video on this page comes from Olympic Casino in Lithuania, which streams its own Russian Poker table.
Is it the same as the Russian Poker Tour?
No. The Russian Poker Tour is a series of poker tournaments that shows up in search results for the same words, while russian poker live is a casino table game played against the dealer.
Tournament poker is played between players for a prize pool. Russian poker live is banked by the casino, and every player at the table plays their own hand against the dealer.
This page covers only russian poker live, the casino game.
How does a round of russian poker live work?
A round runs in five steps: Ante, deal, decision, community cards, then the dealer’s reveal. Live Casino Comparer says the dealer deals five cards face up to the player and five to the dealer, with one dealer card face up.
- Place an Ante.
- Get five cards face up; the dealer gets five with one showing.
- Choose: fold, play, buy a sixth card or swap cards.
- The dealer burns a card and deals five community cards, which supply any extra or swapped cards.
- With three of a kind plus Ace-King or better, you are offered insurance.
- The dealer reveals the hand; if it has Ace-King or better, the hands are compared.
- If the dealer does not qualify, you can pay 1 Ante to buy the dealer a new card.
Every decision is personal. Live Casino Comparer says the cards each player uses show in graphic form on their own screen, so two players at the same table can play the same deal differently.
What are the Ante and the Bet?
The Ante opens the hand, and the Bet plays it. Live Casino Comparer says a player who keeps a hand places a Bet of two times the Ante, and the payout table applies to that Bet.
At a $5 Ante in russian poker live, the Bet is $10. That puts $15 on the table before any extra card or swap.
Every other option in russian poker live is priced in Antes. The sixth card, the swap and buying the dealer a card each cost one Ante.
What are the four choices after the deal?
Fold, play, take a sixth card or swap cards. Live Casino Comparer lists all four: folding loses the Ante, playing costs a Bet of two Antes, and a sixth card or a swap costs one Ante more.
| Choice | Cost | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Fold | Lose the Ante | Hand ends |
| Play | Bet of 2 Antes | Hand goes to the showdown as dealt |
| Sixth card | 1 Ante | Adds the first community card to the hand |
| Swap | 1 Ante | Replaces 2 to 5 chosen cards with community cards |
A russian poker live player who buys a card or swaps still needs to play the hand with the Bet to reach the showdown.
What does folding cost?
The Ante, and nothing more. Live Casino Comparer says a folded hand loses the Ante and takes no further part in the round of russian poker live.
Folding is often right in russian poker live. Live Casino Comparer says folding is often a better option than playing a weak hand, and that spending on a weak hand is throwing money away.
At a $5 Ante, a fold costs $5. Playing a weak hand costs at least $15 if the dealer qualifies and wins.
How does the sixth card work?
It adds one card to your hand. Live Casino Comparer says the sixth card costs one Ante, and the player receives the first community card when the dealer deals them.
In russian poker live, six cards can hold two five-card hands. Live Casino Comparer says a player who takes the sixth card can end up with two winning hands, and both are paid on the two-hand table.
Livedealers.com makes the same point: you can receive payouts for two poker hands within a single box.
How does swapping work?
You pick 2 to 5 cards to replace. Live Casino Comparer says the swap costs one Ante, and the chosen cards are removed and replaced with the same number of community cards, in the order they come out.
A russian poker live swap keeps the hand at five cards. That rules out the two-hand payouts, which need six cards.
Use the swap to rebuild, and the sixth card to add. Live Casino Comparer uses the exchange for changing more than one card.
Where do the extra cards come from?
From five community cards. Live Casino Comparer says the dealer burns one card, then deals five community cards face up, which supply the extra and swapped cards in the order they appear.
The russian poker live dealer does not use these cards. They serve only the players who asked for a sixth card or a swap.
Every player who asked for cards gets them from the same row. In russian poker live, a player swapping three cards takes the first three community cards.
When does the dealer qualify?
With Ace-King or better. Live Casino Comparer says the dealer needs at least Ace-King high to play; if the hand is weaker, the dealer does not qualify and does not play the hand.
That russian poker live rule is shared with Caribbean Stud. It is the reason a strong player hand can still win only a small amount.
The dealer’s four hidden cards stay hidden until the reveal. Only one dealer card shows during the decision.
How often does the dealer qualify?
About 56% of the time, from a full deck. Of the 2,598,960 five-card hands, 1,135,260 have no pair, no straight, no flush and less than Ace-King high, which is 43.68%, so the dealer qualifies with the other 56.32%.
The count is simple. There are 1,302,540 high-card hands, and 167,280 of them hold both an Ace and a King. Those qualify; the rest do not.
Real hands shift that slightly, since the player’s five cards come from the same deck. The full-deck figure is the baseline in russian poker live.
What happens when the dealer does not qualify?
The Ante pays 1:1 and the Bet is returned. Live Casino Comparer says a non-qualifying dealer’s hand pays the Ante at even money and pushes the Bet.
At a $5 Ante and $10 Bet, that is a $5 win, whatever the player holds. A royal flush earns the same $5 as a pair of twos.
That is why russian poker live lets a player pay to make the dealer qualify.
What is buying the dealer a card?
A way to give the dealer a second chance to qualify. Live Casino Comparer says the option costs one Ante, and the dealer’s highest card is removed and replaced with a new card from the deck.
Livedealers.com calls it buying the dealer’s qualification for the price of one Ante, and its reviewer calls the option priceless.
If the dealer still does not qualify, Live Casino Comparer’s result table shows the Ante and Bet as a push after the card swap. The one-Ante fee is spent either way.
When is buying the dealer a card worth it?
With a strong hand. Live Casino Comparer says a player with a strong hand can buy the dealer a card, unless the dealer’s first card is a King or an Ace; a player with a weak hand should not buy.
The russian poker live logic is plain. A strong hand is worth far more on the paytable than the 1:1 Ante, so a chance to get it paid is worth one Ante.
With a weak hand, a qualified dealer is a threat, not a chance. The even-money Ante win is the better result.
What is insurance?
An even-money bet that the dealer will not qualify. Live Casino Comparer says insurance is offered on three of a kind plus Ace-King or better, and pays 1:1 if the dealer does not qualify.
Livedealers.com adds that players can insure for varying amounts. Live Casino Comparer stresses that insurance does not protect a good hand from losing.
Insurance in russian poker live covers only the case where the dealer fails to qualify, which would otherwise pay just the Ante.
Is insurance worth it?
Live Casino Comparer says no; it calls insurance a gamble it does not think is worth taking. From a full deck, the dealer fails to qualify about 43.7% of the time, so an even-money bet on that loses more often than it wins.
The result table shows how it settles. With insurance and a qualified dealer, the Bet wins and the insurance loses; with insurance and no qualifier, the insurance pays 1:1.
Live Casino Comparer notes one case for it: payouts on the Bet need a qualified dealer, so a big hand facing a non-qualifier earns little.
What does each hand pay in russian poker live?
Pays run from 1:1 for Ace-King or a pair to 100:1 for a royal flush. Live Casino Comparer lists the single-hand table for Ezugi, paid on the Bet when the dealer qualifies and the player wins.
| Hand | Pays |
|---|---|
| Ace-King | 1:1 |
| Pair | 1:1 |
| Two pairs | 2:1 |
| Three of a kind | 3:1 |
| Straight | 4:1 |
| Flush | 5:1 |
| Full house | 7:1 |
| Four of a kind | 20:1 |
| Straight flush | 50:1 |
| Royal flush | 100:1 |
Live Casino Comparer notes that Ace-King pays 1:1, and that beating a dealer who also holds Ace-King takes a better kicker.
What are the two-hand payouts?
Extra pays for six-card hands that hold two combinations. Live Casino Comparer’s double-hand table pays, for example, 6:1 for a flush plus a pair, 14:1 for two full houses and 150:1 for a royal flush plus a straight flush.
| Double hand | Pays |
|---|---|
| Pair + Ace-King | 2:1 |
| Two pairs + Ace-King | 3:1 |
| Three pairs | 3:1 |
| Three of a kind + Ace-King | 4:1 |
| Straight + Ace-King or + pair | 5:1 |
| Straight + straight | 8:1 |
| Flush + Ace-King or + pair | 6:1 |
| Flush + straight | 9:1 |
| Flush + flush | 10:1 |
| Full house + Ace-King | 8:1 |
| Full house + full house | 14:1 |
| Four of a kind + Ace-King | 21:1 |
| Four of a kind + full house | 27:1 |
| Straight flush + Ace-King or + pair | 51:1 |
| Straight flush + straight | 54:1 |
| Straight flush + flush | 55:1 |
| Straight flush + straight flush | 100:1 |
| Royal flush + pair | 101:1 |
| Royal flush + straight | 104:1 |
| Royal flush + flush | 105:1 |
| Royal flush + straight flush | 150:1 |
Each double-hand pay is the sum of the two single pays. A flush plus a pair pays 5:1 plus 1:1, or 6:1, and a royal plus a straight flush pays 100:1 plus 50:1.
How often does each starting hand come?
Mostly high cards and pairs. From 2,598,960 possible five-card hands, 50.12% are high-card hands and 42.26% hold one pair; everything from two pairs up makes up the last 7.6% of deals in russian poker live.
| Hand | Combinations | Chance |
|---|---|---|
| High card | 1,302,540 | 50.12% |
| of which Ace-King high | 167,280 | 6.44% |
| One pair | 1,098,240 | 42.26% |
| Two pairs | 123,552 | 4.75% |
| Three of a kind | 54,912 | 2.11% |
| Straight | 10,200 | 0.39% |
| Flush | 5,108 | 0.20% |
| Full house | 3,744 | 0.14% |
| Four of a kind | 624 | 0.024% |
| Straight flush | 36 | 0.0014% |
| Royal flush | 4 | 0.00015% |
These are the russian poker live odds for the first five cards. The sixth card and the swap exist to move a hand up this table.
How do the results settle?
By dealer qualification and by who holds the better hand. Live Casino Comparer’s result table shows that when a qualified dealer loses, the Ante pushes and the Bet wins at the paytable rate.
| Result | Ante | Bet | Insurance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dealer qualifies, player wins | Push | Wins at paytable | n/a |
| Dealer qualifies, player loses | Loses | Loses | n/a |
| Player folds | Loses | Loses | n/a |
| Dealer does not qualify | 1:1 | Push | n/a |
| Dealer still not qualified after a bought card | Push | Push | n/a |
| Dealer qualifies, player insured | Push | Wins | Loses |
| Dealer does not qualify, player insured | Push | Push | 1:1 |
| Dealer qualifies with a better hand, player insured | Loses | Loses | Push |
The Ante push on a player win sets russian poker live apart from Caribbean Stud tables that pay the Ante as well.
What is the RTP of russian poker live?
Russian poker live returns 98.23% in the Ezugi version. Live Casino Comparer gives that theoretical return, which leaves a house edge of 1.77%.
The russian poker live figure assumes sound play: folding weak hands, buying cards only with the right draws and taking the dealer card only with strong hands.
If the 98.23% applies to the total staked, $1,000 of action costs about $17.70 on average. Poor decisions push the cost higher.
What does a hand cost at most?
Five Antes, before insurance. The Ante is one, the Bet is two, a sixth card or a swap adds one, and buying the dealer a card adds one more, all set out by Live Casino Comparer.
| Step | Antes | At a $5 Ante |
|---|---|---|
| Ante | 1 | $5 |
| Bet | 2 | $10 |
| Sixth card or swap | 1 | $5 |
| Dealer card | 1 | $5 |
| Total | 5 | $25 |
The sixth card and the swap are alternatives, so a hand never pays for both. Insurance comes on top, at an amount the player chooses.
What does a $5 Ante hand look like?
Here is one path through a hand. You hold two pairs, play with a $10 Bet, and the dealer qualifies with a lower hand; the Bet pays 2:1 for $20, and the Ante pushes.
Now take the same two pairs against a dealer who does not qualify. The Ante pays $5, the Bet is returned, and the win drops from $20 to $5.
Buying the dealer a card for $5 can restore the $20 win if the dealer then qualifies and loses. If the dealer still fails to qualify, both bets push and the $5 fee is gone.
How does a flush draw play out in dollars?
Take four hearts at a $5 Ante. A sixth card costs $5, the Bet costs $10, and the flush lands 19.6% of the time; a flush over a qualified dealer’s lower hand pays 5:1 on the $10 Bet, or $50.
If the sixth card misses, the hand stays a high-card hand, which rarely beats a qualified dealer.
If the dealer does not qualify, even a made flush earns only the $5 Ante win. That is the moment the dealer-card option exists for in russian poker live.
What does a pair of Aces look like?
A solid but small winner. At a $5 Ante with a $10 Bet, a pair of Aces over a qualified dealer’s lower hand pays 1:1 on the Bet, $10, while the Ante pushes.
A sixth card for $5 improves the pair 23.9% of the time. Aces-up two pairs would pay 2:1, or $20, and three Aces would pay 3:1, or $30.
Against a dealer who fails to qualify, the pair earns the $5 Ante win like any other russian poker live hand.
What does a session of 50 hands cost?
If each hand stakes the Ante plus the Bet, $15 at a $5 Ante, then 50 hands put $750 on the table. At a 98.23% RTP, the expected cost is about $13.28, if the figure applies to the total staked.
The stake per hand moves with each choice. A fold cuts it to $5, while a sixth card plus a dealer card lifts it to $25.
That spread is why russian poker live rewards discipline. The options add stake faster than they add return when used on weak hands.
Which hands should you play?
Hands that already win or can be built. Live Casino Comparer lists pairs and better, Ace-King, four cards to a flush, an open-ended straight, three cards to a straight flush or royal flush, and a Queen when the dealer shows a Five or lower.
Every other russian poker live hand it calls weak. There is no advantage in paying to build such a hand, since the return may not cover the extra stake.
Its advice is to keep the strategy simple enough to act within the betting time in russian poker live.
When should you take a sixth card?
When you already hold a winning hand. Live Casino Comparer says the sixth card suits a pair, two pairs, a straight, a flush or a full house, since it can complete a stronger hand or create a two-hand payout.
A pair with a sixth card has 11 cards that improve it: two that make three of a kind and nine that pair one of the three kickers. From 46 unseen cards, that is 23.9%.
The cost is one Ante. At a $5 Ante, the sixth card costs $5 for about a one-in-four chance to lift a pair to two pairs or better.
When should you swap cards?
When you need more than one new card. Live Casino Comparer lists the cases: swap two cards around three to a straight flush or royal, swap three around Ace-King, and swap the other two around three of a kind if the dealer is not showing the fourth card.
It adds a Queen rule. With a Queen and the dealer showing less than a Five, swap four cards; otherwise fold.
These are simple russian poker live rules, and Live Casino Comparer says more complex strategies exist. All of them boil down to a few decisions.
What are the odds of completing a draw?
About one in five for flush and straight draws. With four cards to a flush and nine of that suit unseen, a single new card completes the flush 9 times in 46, or 19.6%; an open-ended straight has 8 outs, or 17.4%.
| Draw | Outs | Chance with one card |
|---|---|---|
| Four to a flush | 9 | 19.6% |
| Open-ended straight | 8 | 17.4% |
| Pair to two pairs or trips | 11 | 23.9% |
| Two pairs to a full house | 4 | 8.7% |
The 46 unseen cards exclude your five cards and the dealer’s up card. The dealer’s hidden cards are unknown, so they count as unseen.
Why does Ace-King pay only 1:1?
Because it is the weakest hand that can win against a qualified dealer. Live Casino Comparer notes that the minimum payout is Ace-King at 1:1, and that beating a dealer who also holds Ace-King takes a better kicker.
In russian poker live, Ace-King high comes in 6.44% of five-card deals. It is worth playing, but it wins small.
Live Casino Comparer’s swap rule for Ace-King is to change the other three cards and aim for a pair or better.
Does the dealer’s up card matter?
Yes, for close decisions. Live Casino Comparer’s rules use it twice: play a Queen-high hand only when the dealer shows a Five or lower, and swap around three of a kind only when the dealer is not showing the fourth card.
A low up card makes it less likely that the dealer holds a strong hand. A card that matches your trips removes one of your outs to four of a kind.
The up card is the only dealer information in russian poker live before the reveal.
Is there a real dealer?
Yes. Live Casino Comparer says you play Ezugi Russian Poker against a live dealer, who burns a card, deals the community cards and reveals the dealer hand in rank order on camera.
BetConstruct says its dealers play the game with the right amount of skill and thrill to encourage longer play, and it presents the dealer as the casino’s face at the table.
The dealer follows fixed rules. There are no dealer decisions in russian poker live; qualification and the dealer-card swap follow the table rules.
Can you play russian poker live on a phone?
Yes. Creedroomz says its Russian Poker table has a sleek, intuitive interface designed for mobile and desktop play, so the table runs on a phone as well as on a computer.
BetConstruct’s promotional art shows the same idea: a row of round buttons, the dealer’s cards above and the player’s hand with a prompt to choose cards for change.
A phone screen suits the game, since every decision is a single tap within the betting time.
How many players can play at once?
Any number. Live Casino Comparer says an unlimited number of players can play the same player hand, and BetConstruct and Creedroomz both advertise unlimited players at their tables.
Each russian poker live player makes their own choices on the shared deal. One player can fold while another buys a sixth card.
There is no competition between players. Everyone plays against the dealer’s single hand.
What deck does the game use?
One standard 52-card deck, shuffled before every game. Live Casino Comparer says Ezugi Russian Poker plays with a single deck that is freshly shuffled each round.
With a single deck, the counts on this page start from the same 52 cards. Every hand is drawn from a full, fresh deck.
A fresh shuffle each round means past hands tell you nothing about the next deal. BetConstruct and Creedroomz do not state a deck count on their pages, so check the game help at those tables.
Are there side bets?
Some versions offer them. Livedealers.com describes Bonus side bets on your own hand or on the dealer’s hand, paying up to 1,000:1 for a royal flush against 100:1 on the regular bet.
Russian poker live side bets vary between studios. Live Casino Comparer’s review of the Ezugi table does not list any.
Check the game help at the table. It shows which side bets are on offer and what each pays.
What are blind boxes?
Livedealers.com describes a version with three betting positions, where the cards on the leftmost and rightmost positions are dealt face down. Players on those boxes play blind.
A blind box means deciding without seeing the full hand. That is a feature of that version, not of every russian poker live table.
The Ezugi table in Live Casino Comparer’s review deals the player’s five cards face up.
Can a hand win automatically?
At some tables, yes. Creedroomz says that at its Russian Poker table, a royal flush or straight flush dealt in the first five cards is an automatic win.
That removes the risk of a non-qualifying dealer on the two top russian poker live hands. At tables without the rule, buying the dealer a card is the way to get a big hand paid.
A straight flush or royal comes in the first five cards about once in 64,974 deals.
How does it compare with Caribbean Stud?
Russian poker live adds hand changes to Caribbean Stud. Both use five cards, one dealer card up and an Ace-King qualifier; Russian Poker adds the sixth card, the swap, the dealer card and two-hand payouts.
| Feature | Caribbean Stud | Russian Poker |
|---|---|---|
| Cards | Five | Five, with a sixth or a swap |
| Dealer qualifier | Ace-King | Ace-King |
| Change cards | No | Yes, 1 Ante |
| Buy the dealer a card | No | Yes, 1 Ante |
| Two-hand pays | No | Yes |
Our page on Caribbean Stud poker covers the base game and its pay table.
How does it compare with Casino Hold’em?
Live Casino Comparer calls Russian Poker Casino Hold’em with the option to buy or swap cards. It also says the extra options can improve a player’s chances, making it more exciting than Casino Hold’em.
Casino Hold’em and russian poker live both use an Ante and a call to play on, and both pay by hand rank. Russian Poker gives the player more control over the final hand.
That control has a price in Antes. Each option adds stake, so good decisions matter more.
What do reviewers think?
They like it. Live Casino Comparer names russian poker live among its favourite poker games, and Livedealers.com calls it a truly unique variant, more engaging than any other live poker game.
Livedealers.com singles out the dealer-card option. Being able to make the dealer qualify, it says, is priceless and costs only one Ante.
Live Casino Comparer’s warning is about discipline. It is easy to spend extra money improving a hand when the right move is to fold.
Where can Canadians play russian poker live?
At casinos that carry Ezugi, BetConstruct or Creedroomz live tables. Live Casino Comparer says Russian Poker is available at all Ezugi live casinos.
In Ontario, the operator’s registration is the first thing to check. The game help shows the pay tables, options and limits in force.
Outside Ontario, the provincial sites and the brands that serve each province decide what is on offer.
Who is russian poker live for?
Poker players who want decisions after the deal. Russian poker live rewards knowing when to fold, when to buy a card and when to pay the dealer’s fee.
It suits players who enjoy Caribbean Stud but want more control over the final hand. It suits less those who want a quick, one-click game.
The 98.23% RTP rewards careful play. Loose use of the options costs more than the edge alone suggests.
What does a Canadian player check before playing?
Four items: the table limits, the single and double pay tables, the option costs in the game help and the operator’s registration. All four are visible before the first hand of russian poker live.
Set a money limit and a time limit first. Players in Ontario who want support can call ConnexOntario at 1-866-531-2600.
Our page on responsible gambling practices for Canadians covers limits and tools.
Which poker pages are worth reading next?
Four pages sit closest to this one. Each covers another house-banked poker game, and each one stands on its own.
Russian poker live is five-card stud with a way out of a bad hand. Fold the weak ones, build the right draws, pay for the dealer card only with strong hands, and the RTP is 98.23%.