From Sviten to Chicago: The Festival’s Love Affair with Alternative Games
Poker is bigger than just Hold’em and PLO. At The Festival Series, side events and mixed formats are not just part of the schedule to be part of it — they’re part of the DNA. Sviten Special, Open-Face Chinese Pineapple, and now Chicago are more than 'just another game'.
They are cultural pillars of Nordic and European poker, with roots that run from smoky Stockholm cardrooms to the bright stage lights of WSOPC Tallinn, Irish Poker Open, Cash Game Festivals, and The Festival Series.
And now, in 2025, we are preparing to debut of 'Chicago' — Sweden’s ultimate home game — to a broader European stage. However, to understand why this matters, you must look back at the history of these alternative games and how they evolved into what they are today.
Sviten Special – The Nordic Original
Sviten Special was born in the early 2000s at Pokerklubben Sviten in Stockholm. Officially credited to Swedish player 'Bengan' aka Anders Bengtsson, it quickly became a cult favourite in the capital.
It didn’t stay hidden for long. As Martin 'Franke' von Zweigbergk recalls:
“I first played Sviten during Pokerfinnkampen, an event I created together with Martin Trang, Mikko Hirvonen, Anders Bengtsson, Andreas Höglund and the other swedes at Sviten. It became one of the most popular cash games there. The game then spread naturally into Finnish home games and later into Tallinn casino cash games. Through iGaming’s rise and the poker boom in Malta, Sviten found a new home abroad. When I was working with PokerListings in 2010 in Vancouver, I even introduced Sviten to the Canadian audience — they loved it so much that PokerListings wrote an article about it, something like Sviten Special, the best game ever created.”
From there, it just kept growing. Sviten became a Cash Game Festival staple, a permanent fixture at The Festival Series, and even a ring event on the WSOP Circuit in Tallinn. Most recently, the Irish Poker Open has embraced it as an official side event.
How it works: Sviten Special is a split-pot mix of 5-card draw and Omaha Hold’em. Players draw once, then make two hands:
- The best 5-card draw hand.
- The best Omaha hand (2 hole cards + 3 board cards).
Half the pot goes to each. Scooping both is the dream.
It’s social, action-heavy, and unpredictable — which is why Sviten Special is now regarded as the Nordic contribution to world poker. The tournament format of Sviten Special is available in different buy-ins throughout the history of The festival Series. Most recently, at The Festival Series Malta, the Sviten Special tournament went with a buy-in of €350, and gathered a stunning 101 entries!
>> Full tutorial: Sviten Special
Open-Face Chinese Pineapple – From Bars to Fantasyland
Open-Face Chinese (OFC) grew out of old-school Chinese Poker, played casually in bars, home games, and on the side of EPT stops. At the EPT stops, they played the old-school 13-card Chinese Poker with points. Later on, in the 2000s, Finns were setting up Chinese Poker tables in Tallinn — but with no royalties, no real structure.
Risto Pönniö, a former Finnish poker dealer at Casino Helsinki, started playing the game with cards face up, one by one, from start to finish (To add to this: It was the traditional one by one version without royalties or fantasyland).
Later on, the Pineapple twist appeared, where players receive three cards per round and must discard one. That innovation created balance, strategy, and the modern format we know today.
Risto Pönniö mentioned to us that his first OFC tournament was in January 2012 during the iGame Open Tallinn. The fun fact about this was that it was played as a shootout with 4-handed tables, and being dealt round per round with Chinese Poker and Open Face Chinese. However, after the first traditional level of Chinese Poker, it was decided to make it Open Face Chinese all the way.
Based on data from The Hendon Mob, this might just have been the first-ever Open Face Chinese tournament ever, as the first OFC tournament in The Hendon Mob dates back to PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) 2013. However, it wasn't the first Chinese Poker tournament, as between 1994 and 2012, there were roughly about 40 registered events worldwide.
Martin 'Franke' von Zweigbergk remembers being right there when OFC tournaments started appearing:
“I think I personally won an OFC tournament already in 2013. You can even check The Hendon Mob for it.”
And the record shows it: in 2013, Martin von Zweigbergk notched two runner-ups and one outright win in OFC tournaments, proving that the promoter could also perform.
How it works: Each player builds three hands face-up:
- Back (5 cards, strongest)
- Middle (5 cards)
- Top (3 cards, weakest)
Hands must rank in correct order. Strong hands score bonus points (“royalties”), and hitting Fantasyland (top row QQ+ without fouling) opens the door to explosive comebacks.
Today, OFC Pineapple is a beloved feature at The Festival Series, played in both €250 and €1,100 buy-in formats at every stop. It’s the perfect mix of strategy, cards, and social fun. And there is just one more thing to add here: The OFC tournaments attract players who initially don't have The Festival Series on their busy calendars, but when they see games like OFC are being offered, they come and play. Take, for example, Fabian Bartuschk and Jon Kyte, two very familiar names in the European Poker circuit nowadays.
>> Full tutorial: Open Face Chinese Poker
Chicago – Sweden’s Home Game Goes International
If Sviten was Stockholm’s poker export, then Chicago has always been Sweden’s secret treasure. Played for decades in home games, and already introduced to the European crowd at Poker SM Live, it’s now being brought to an international audience by The Festival Series. Special shoutout to Mauritz Altikardes as we are incorporating the rules built mainly by him and Poker SM Live.
At The Festival, Chicago will debut as a tournament format with 'heats' and 'playoffs'. Oversight is handled by an Auditor (scorekeeper), as players rack up points across phases:
- Two draw-and-declare rounds.
- One trick-taking round.
The spice comes from, among other things, the game's unique scoring system, the tactical elements of trick taking and of course declaring “Chicago” once you reach 15 points or more.
That’s when the drama kicks in: you must sweep all five tricks. Success earns +15, failure costs –15 (while your opponent gains +10). To win, you must hit 52 points and have declared at least one Chicago. Reach 52 without it? You lose.
It’s a tense, strategic, very Swedish kind of game — but in November 2025 in Bratislava, it will finally step onto the Festival stage as a European competition in which everyone can partake.
>> Full tutorial: Chicago Poker
Why These Games Matter at The Festival
The Festival’s identity has always been about more than just poker. It’s about community, culture, and fun.
Games like Sviten Special, OFC Pineapple, and Chicago embody that spirit:
- They create stories and memories beyond the main events.
- They bring together players from across cultures and countries.
- They celebrate poker as a social game, not just a grind.
At The Festival, scooping a Sviten pot, hitting Fantasyland in OFC, or winning a Chicago heat can be just as legendary as running deep in the Main Event.
And in 2025, as Chicago makes its Festival Series debut in Bratislava (Nov 18–24), the legacy of Nordic alternative poker grows even stronger.
Because poker is bigger than Hold’em. Always has been. Always will be.
