Fantastic Opening Day of The Festival – Full House Already
This Monday was the very first day of our Festival in Tallinn. We’re still one day away from the main event, but the Olympic Park Casino is already buzzing with action.
The Sviten Special (the European variant of Drawmaha) was the main item on the menu today. If you don’t know what Sviten Special is – it’s a mixed game where you play Draw Poker and Omaha simultaneously. We talked to the founder of Sviten Special earlier this week.
What is Sviten Special
Before we get into the history of Sviten Special, it is important for you to know the rules. Although in the USA, another similar variation of the game called Drawmaha, is played as limit poker, the popular Sviten Special game is played primarily as a pot-limit game throughout Europe with its origins coming from Sweden.
Sviten Special is a mix between Omaha and Five-Card Draw. Players start with five cards and a round of betting takes place. Another round of betting takes place after a three-card flop is dealt. Those still in the hand have the option to draw as many cards as they desire or can opt to stand pat with what they have.
Those that draw cards in either Sviten Special or Drawmaha will receive them face down in most circumstances to add to their hand without the opponents knowing any of the cards. There is a small twist when playing Sviten Special as opposed to Drawmaha when drawing one card. In this case, the dealer exchanges the burnt card with one face up for the entire table to see. The player can choose whether to add it to their hand or to ask for a new card, which would be face down.
A third round of betting takes place after a turn is dealt and a final round of betting after the river is dealt. Half the pot goes to the best five-card draw hand and the other half goes to the best five-card Omaha hand.
Don’t worry if this sounds confusing as it is easier to visualize. Check out the video to learn more about Sviten Special by a close friend of The Festival Series and expert Sviten Special player Peter La Terra.
The Sviten Special at The Festival in Tallin attracted 77 players which played down to a final table today. The finalists are playing for a little over €16,600 with the winner taking home almost €5,000. The final of the event will be played tomorrow at 7 pm.
The other poker event this evening was the €60 knockout event which drew 83 players for a prize pool of a little over €2,000. Koen Ross from the Netherlands won the event and was our first Champion here in Tallinn.
The Satellite to the main event drew a whopping 142 entries and another 6 main event tickets were distributed. There will be two more satellites to the Main Event today (9 pm) and tomorrow (3 pm) for a €35 buy-in.
We also started our cash game sessions which can be watched on our Twitch live stream. Among the players were Oskar Wedde, Ylva Thorsrud, our very own Jason Glatzer and Tihomir Yanev. Martins Geiba was also playing and won most during the first session and also opted to play the second session.
If you want to follow our Twitch stream, those are the events we’re streaming:
| Day | Time | Event |
| Mon 27-Jun | 20:00 | Cash Game Festival Challenge €2/2 Texas |
| Mon 27-Jun | 22:30 | Cash Game Festival Challenge €2/2 PLO4 |
| Tue 28-Jun | 17:00 | PLO Masters |
| Wed 29-Jun | 19:00 | Acroud Charity Tournaments, Invites only |
| Wed 29-Jun | 23:30 | Cash Game Festival Challenge €2/2 PLO4 |
| Thu 30-Jun | 17:00 | Half ´n Half (Texas & PLO, 1 level each) |
| Fri 01-Jul | 20:00 | Cash Game Festival Challenge €2/5 Texas |
| Fri 01-Jul | 22:30 | Cash Game Festival Challenge €2/2 PLO4 |
| Sat 02-Jul | 12:00 | MAIN EVENT DAY 3 |
| Sat 02-Jul | 13:00 | Pokerlistings Deepstack Day 2/Final |
| Sun 03-Jul | 12:00 | MAIN EVENT FINAL TABLE, reserve slot |
| Sun 03-Jul | 12:00 | Pokerlistings Deepstack FT/Reserve |
Tune in tomorrow for our coverage of Day 1a of the Main Event of The Festival in Tallinn. Cards will be in the air shortly after noon which is also the time our detailed live blog is going to start.
