Learn About Sviten Special

Players are getting excited while preparing to return to Tallinn for battle for the second edition of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Circuit Tallinn. The festival boasts a whopping 53 numbered events, including 12 chances at a WSOP gold ring at the luxurious Olympic Park Casino, and the adjoining Hilton Tallinn Park will be the center of the poker universe from July 19-28.

While all eyes will be on who will win the €1 million guaranteed WSOP Circuit Tallinn €1,500 Main Event, many players are coming out for the wide variety of events. The festival showcases poker diversity, featuring many different poker formats, including the intriguing Sviten Special.

The €250 Sviten Special kicks off near the end of the WSOP Circuit Tallinn on Friday, July 28 at 7 p.m. Players start with 20,000 in chips and will battle it out under a 20-minute blind structure with unlimited re-entries permitted during the first nine blind levels.

While this game certainly isn’t for someone who hasn’t played poker before, it is an amazing, action-packed experience for those who have already enjoyed other poker games. Read on to learn the history of Sviten Special and the rules of the game, and get ready for a fun-filled time.

Brief History of Sviten Special

Anders Bengtsson accidentally invented Sviten Special at the Sviten Club, which the game was named after, in Stockholm near the beginning of this century. While the club began as a hold’em club, many players enjoyed mixed games.

One night in 2004, Bengtsson spontaneously proposed a new game when the cash game action was down to just four players. The four players loved the game so much that they played it again the next evening. Shortly after, the game found its way to other clubs and began to gain popularity in Finland.

Sviten Special has been a staple event at all of the major poker festivals at Olympic Park Casino for many years, while other venues and festivals have also more recently introduced this game to even more players.

Meanwhile, there was a similar game invented around the same time in the United States dubbed Drawmaha.

Rules of Sviten Special

The rules of Sviten Special can be complicated at first. Especially to those that haven’t played much poker before. However, if you know the rules of both pot-limit Omaha and five-card draw, you will catch on quickly and see why so many players across the world have fallen in love with the game.

The action starts simply enough: a small blind and a big blind are posted before the start of play. A big blind ante is usually added as well in tournaments as will be the case at the WSOP Circuit Tallinn. However, other formats have been witnessed over the years, including a third blind or no ante typically used in cash games.

Each player is then dealt five cards before a betting round. A flop is dealt, similar to what happens in hold’em and Omaha formats, before the second round of betting.

Here is where it starts to get a little tricky. Players still in the hand can discard cards and collect new ones. They can also choose to stand pat. This is also where Drawmaha and Sviten Special slightly diverge.

If a player discards just one card in Sviten Special, their new card will be dealt face up for the table to see. The player can choose to either add this card to their hand or discard for a second time. The card would be dealt face down at this point.

This rule doesn’t occur in Drawmaha and follows the same pattern as Sviten Special when a player draws 2-5 cards with the new cards dealt face down into the player’s hand.

A turn is immediately dealt after players receive their new cards, followed by a third round of betting. The fourth and final round of betting occurs after a river completes the board.

The player with the best five-card draw hand in their hand will win half the pot at showdown, while the player with the best five-card Omaha hand will win the other half of the pot. This creates many situations where players can be pushed off half the pot and other situations where players can be freerolling with half the pot locked up and a good shot at the other half.

Expect Sviten Special cash games running throughout the WSOP Circuit Tallinn, especially around the time the €250 Sviten Special tournament takes place on July 28.