Russia, which is actually officially known as the Russian Federation is a country that’s located in the Northern part of Eurasia. Russia and Norway, Finland, Latvia, Poland, Estonia and Lithuania share land borders on Russia’s southeast side. Russia also borders North Korea, China, Mongolia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, and Kazakhstan. Russia shares maritime borders with the United States, Japan, the Sea of Okhotsk and Alaska.That was quite the list right? That’s because Russia is the largest country in the entire world. The country actually covers more than an 8th of the globes inhabited land.The official language of Russia is the Russian language; there are however 27 other co-official languages recognized through Russia’s various regions. The official currency in Russia is the Russian Ruble.
Casinos in Russia
Over the last few years Russia’s once thriving gambling industry has undergone a complete overhaul. Vladimir Putin, the president, in one swoop, closed down every casino in the country, as well as every single poker room. In fact, it’s not even legal to play live poker in Russia for cash today, online or off.Then legislation was put into place to allow for new casinos to be built, not for the reopening of the existing casinos. The country is even now taking bids from casino developers to open casinos in 4 new areas earmarked for new casino construction over the next several years.These new areas are called Russian Casino zones.
New Russian Casino Zones:
- Altai
- Primorie
- Kaliningrad
- Krasnodar and Rostov Border
The first of the Russian Casino zones to undergo any actual construction is set to be Altai which already has plans in place to begin construction of the first new Russian Super casino campus.
Russian Ruble Poker Sites
There are a handful of poker sites online that will allow make deposits into their account using Russian Rubles, those players will then likely have to play in either United States Dollars or in Euro’s, then they can withdraw Rubles once again.There aren’t any poker sites at this time that offer any play in Ruble’s specifically, however, if you hear of one opening, please shoot us a comment using our contact us page so that we can add that information to this page.
Sites that Accept Deposits in Ruble
- PokerStars
- Party Poker
In addition to online poker sites that accept Russian Ruble deposits, and transactions, there are also a handful of online casinos (sites that offer slots machine games, video poker, and table games like blackjack, craps and roulette) that accept deposits in Rubles.
Russian Ruble Casinos:
- EUcasino
- Crazy Vegas Casino
- Expekt Casino
- Bwin Casino
Russian Language Poker Sites
There are even more poker sites that offer Russian language poker software than there are sites that allow Russian currency deposits. The thing is though, players need to be sure and read the terms and conditions of the poker site. Oftentimes even though the site itself offers Russian software, they don’t allow Russian chat in the chat area of the tables. It’s silly we realize, but it’s intended to force players to use one universal language in the effort to fight possible collusion (cheating) among groups of players.
Well Known Russian Poker Players
The following players aren’t just well-known names in the Russian poker community; they’re the top ten money earners in the entire country according to the Hendon Mob poker player database.
- Ivan Demidov
- Vitaly Lunkin
- Igor Kurganov
- Alexander
- Alexander Kostritsyn
- Max Lykov
- Kirill Gerasimov
- Andrey
- Leonid Bilokur
Russian Deposit and Withdrawal Options
There are several deposit and withdrawal options available to poker players located in Russia, including those listed below:
- Moneta
- Webmoney
Russian Poker Law
In November of 2012, the Supreme Court in Russia overturned a decision that greatly affects citizens ability to play online poker games. Previously, it was ruled that the internet service provider Rostelecom was not responsible for blocking customer’s access to online poker sites, however, with the overturning of that decision, it will become virtually impossible for players to get to internet gambling websites like PokerStars or Party Poker.
