78 
- Legality of poker rooms in Russia
- Advantages of legal poker
- Top 5 poker rooms for playing in Russia
- PokerOK
- RedStar
- Pokerdom
- JackPoker
- Mobile Poker Club
- Six recommendations for choosing a poker room in Russia
- Player pool
- Third-party software
- Bonuses and rakeback
- Available stakes
- Playing on mobile devices
- Deposits and withdrawals
- Frequently asked questions about choosing a poker room
- What is the 1Win Poker room?
- Should we expect the emergence of new poker rooms available to domestic poker players?
- Where tournament series happen more often?
- Is there a mobile app for iOS for Pokerdom room?
Which poker room to choose? It is quite difficult to answer this question in Russia in 2024, but it is still possible! PokerOK, RedStar, Pokerdom, JackPoker, MobilePokerClub, and 1Win Poker are available for Russians.
What to consider? Each of the listed poker rooms has its own rules and restrictions, which you need to know about before registering. It is important to evaluate the playing field, attitude to software, bonuses and rakeback, limits, availability of a mobile version, methods of replenishing the balance and withdrawing funds.
Legality of poker rooms in Russia
Last year, the number of poker sites available to our compatriots was greatly reduced. In this regard, when deciding which poker room to choose, players from Russia can consider a very limited set of online rooms. Some of these sites are only for Russian-speaking players, but there are also those that do not contain strict restrictions.
Currently, the state prohibits any activity related to online poker. Only offline poker clubs are allowed to operate in special gambling areas of the country. The tax service does not issue licenses for organizing online games or cash tournaments.
The ban policy did not lead to a decline in the popularity of online poker in our country. Domestic fans of the game use the services of “gray” poker rooms. We are talking about resources that operate online using international licenses issued by regulators of Malta, Curacao, England, etc. Such sites are considered conditionally legal, since they operate quite officially in other countries, but are not recognized at the legislative level of Russia.
Advantages of legal poker
In addition to the previously described “gray” poker rooms, there are also sites on the Internet that are not controlled by regulators at all. Such sites are illegal poker rooms. They often have a lot of negative reviews and low ratings. Their customers often talk about bots, blocking accounts without real reasons and the impossibility of withdrawing their own funds.
You can avoid such troubles if you register on legal poker sites. Control over the activities of such poker rooms is carried out by regulators and independent organizations, which guarantees the protection of the interests of players and ensures compliance with the rules of fair play.
Advantages of legal poker sites:
- Certified high-quality software.
- A large number of users.
- Reliable protection from bots, effective counteraction to collusion of participants and various methods of fraud.
- Withdrawal within strictly established timeframes and without additional commissions.
- Technical support from competent specialists 24 hours a day.
Top 5 poker rooms for playing in Russia
PokerOK
In terms of traffic, PokerOK is the best online poker room. This is a good choice for beginner players. You can find a game here 24/7, try yourself in new interesting and dynamic disciplines, and evaluate the advantages of this service.
At tables of the lower stakes, you can meet a very large number of weak poker players. Thus, a beginner will feel quite comfortable. Note the importance of correctly assessing the statistical data of the HUD built into the client. You have to be able to identify recreational players at the table. You should play with them especially carefully.
Many players here prefer an aggressive style, playing with incomplete stacks and a wide range of raises and three-bets preflop. It is important to be prepared for this and develop a strategy to counter this behavior.
This poker room does not support the use of third-party trackers, which simultaneously complicates and simplifies the game. It is necessary to pay more attention to the actions of opponents and rely on the data of the built-in HUD.
RedStar
The actively developing poker room RedStar has recently overtaken such giants as Partypoker and 888Poker. The service took third place in traffic among poker rooms. During peak hours, many inexperienced players play at low stakes tables, which creates favorable conditions.
RedStar has a unique opportunity to receive a fixed rakeback of 35%, regardless of the volume. For beginners who find it difficult to withstand long sessions necessary for a noticeable benefit from the rakeback system, this model is a solution that allows you to earn income even with irregular play and a small volumes.
In addition, the RedStar poker room allows the use of HUD and data mining, which is undoubtedly important when playing at micro stakes. These tools help you better understand the playing styles of your opponents and adapt your strategies to them, especially when facing unknown opponents.
Pokerdom
The leading Russian online poker platform is currently showing a significant increase in users, and most of them are beginners. Despite the general decline in the quality of play at micro stakes, you can often meet poker players on Pokerdom whose actions seem especially ill-considered. Such players tend to bluff often in the least suitable situations and to use an extremely wide range of starting hands.
Currently, the situation with deposits and withdrawals in the poker room has slightly improved. However, it is still worth noting the variety of available methods for topping up an account and withdrawing money from Pokerdom.
This resource does not allow the use of external poker trackers, so it will not be possible to gather statistics on opponents. You will have to focus more on the game, take notes on the behavior of opponents and play at fewer tables.
JackPoker
This poker room welcomes players from our country and offers a browser client, convenient payment methods, attractive bonuses and regular tournaments. The service includes cash games in Hold’em and Omaha, as well as multi-table tournaments (MTT) and spins. You can find games at different stakes.
Advantages of the JackPoker online poker room:
- 100% bonus on the first deposit as a welcome offer.
- Regular tournaments.
- Freeroll festivals, the prize fund of which reaches $200,000.
- The ability to play directly in the browser.
- Many monthly promotional offers on the site.
- Individual conditions for regulars.
The service offers round-the-clock support in Russian. You can ask for help via online chat, email or social networks.
Mobile Poker Club
Closing out the top five is a poker room allowed in Russia for playing for money. The resource has been operating since 2009 and is focused on fans of mobile poker. The service software is optimized for all types of devices and operating systems.
The target audience of the Mobile Poker Club platform is beginners and amateurs, which makes the level of play relatively low, condensed mainly at micro stakes.
The room offers a unique welcome promotion: a 100% bonus on the first three deposits, which distinguishes it from other poker rooms, where such offer only works once. The promotion is available to new players who create an account and use the services of the poker room for the first time.
Advantages of Mobile Poker Club:
- Play for real money from mobile devices.
- Mobile applications with low system requirements.
- Regular tournaments with affordable buy-ins starting from $ 0.50 and attractive prizes.
- Daily freerolls.
- Independent network.
- Updated loyalty program with rakeback up to 59.5%.
- Chinese poker.
- Several online series during the year with low buy-ins.
- Wide choice of payment methods.
- Support in Russian.
- Cryptocurrency is supported.
- Play money.
In Mobile Poker Club, to access the withdrawal of funds, you only need to confirm your mobile phone number, after which you can freely make deposits and cash out.
The site’s support service is available around the clock and in Russian. You can contact them via the application, email or the poker room website.
Six recommendations for choosing a poker room in Russia
Here are some criteria that will help you decide which poker room to choose in Russia in 2024.
Player pool
Poker rooms have players of different skill levels. Some platforms are dominated by beginners and amateurs, while others attract professional players for whom poker is the main source of income. The presence of a large number of professionals in a poker room increases the difficulty of playing in tournaments and cash games. Therefore, it is desirable that the composition of players consist mainly of beginners and amateur players.
Professionals prefer platforms with large welcome bonuses, high rakeback and tracker support. Recreational players tend to choose rooms that offer:
- Anonymous tables.
- No deposit bonuses.
- Regular freerolls.
- The ability to play at micro stakes.
- The presence of a bookmaker and/or casino.
The top 3 poker rooms fully meet these conditions and are characterized by a predominantly weak level of players, including beginners and amateurs.
Third-party software
Leading poker rooms do not allow the use of additional software, striving to ensure equal playing conditions for all participants. This eliminates the possibility of gaining an unfair advantage thanks to auxiliary software. Such sites are in demand among recreational players. Due to the complexity and high cost of external programs, they rarely use them.
For experienced players, however, such a limitation can be a disadvantage, since they prefer poker rooms that support HUD and other analytical tools or allow the use of third-party software.
Bonuses and rakeback
An important aspect is the promotions in the poker room, available to all types of clients on clear terms of participation, as well as significant bonuses. All these factors make playing on a particular site profitable.
Assess bonuses by the following criteria:
- Bonus size in percentage and monetary terms.
- Conditions for receiving: requirements for player actions, such as registration, account top-up, verification.
- Possibilities to gain bonuses repeatedly: welcome bonuses are often provided for the first few deposits.
- Bonus release requirements: the amount of rake that must be generated and the period for its completion.
It is also necessary to distinguish between types of bonuses: instant ones, which can be used immediately in the game, and deferred ones, which require conversion into cash.
Russian-language poker rooms have VIP programs. Their conditions determine the size of rakeback. It is better to choose sites with a fixed rakeback, which provide the ability to calculate your income accurately.
Less profitable are random rakebacks, when the size of the reward depends on luck and is unknown in advance.
The sites presented in the top offer players VIP programs with a fixed rakeback.
ru.pinterest.com
Available stakes
Not all poker rooms available to our compatriots offer a wide range of stakes. In some rooms, the main games are held at tables with stakes up to 2/4 $, while higher stakes are available only during peak hours.
Players need to familiarize themselves with the available stakes and study the traffic distribution among them to make sure that there are enough opponents at the selected stakes.
Playing on mobile devices
It is desirable that the poker room has a high-quality mobile application that supports all the necessary functions for convenient play from smartphones and other devices, effectively using Internet traffic and battery.
The main criteria for evaluating mobile applications of poker rooms:
- Availability of MTT, cash tables and various stakes.
- Availability of a convenient bet slider.
- Interface orientation.
- System requirements.
- Available multitabling.
Mobile applications are downloaded from the official website of the room. There you can find out about their functionality and technical characteristics.
Like the desktop version, the PokerOK mobile app supports build-in HUD.
Deposits and withdrawals
Make sure that all the main instruments for conducting monetary transactions are available, including bankcards, e-wallets and cryptocurrencies.
You should also take into account what is the minimum amount for deposits and withdrawals, which should not be too high. Ideally, min payments should range from $5-10 and same amount for withdrawals.
Some rooms charge a fee for withdrawals, the amount of which should not exceed 1-3%.
Frequently asked questions about choosing a poker room
What is the 1Win Poker room?
The Russian 1Win Poker platform is part of an online casino and bookmaker. Its target audience is beginner poker players and amateurs. In this regard, the main games are held at lower stakes. Buy-ins for tournaments at 1Win Poker are within $10. The poker room software supports all the functionality necessary for online poker. You can use both a PC and a smartphone to play. In any case, the user will have access to the entire list of MTTs and cash tables.
Should we expect the emergence of new poker rooms available to domestic poker players?
As of now, there are no announcements about the opening of new online platforms for playing poker in the Russian Federation.
Where tournament series happen more often?
In this regard, the leaders are Pokerdom and PokerOK. Online game series and qualifiers for offline events are often held here.
Is there a mobile app for iOS for Pokerdom room?
Currently, the resource is only available in the browser version. The mobile version for iOS is still in development.
The question of which poker room to choose will still be relevant in Russia in 2024. If experienced players already understand the criteria by which to choose sites, then beginner poker players may encounter various difficulties. Often, beginners register on advertised resources without even trying to find another option.
Note that, despite the current situation, there are many well-established poker rooms that are focused on beginner poker players. We recommend that you carefully study the criteria for choosing such resources, presented in our material, in order to get the most out of playing poker.
