Sviten Special is going International!
The Asian Poker Tour (APT) has been organising more than 110 major tournaments an numerous smaller tournaments mainly in the Asia-Pacific Region. Ever since its existance in 2006, they have been continuously been offering tournaments that is being recognised by players from all over the world. Their upcoming stop in Taipei from April 22nd to May 3rd, is being promised to be an amazing one, as Sviten Special will make its debut at the Asian Poker Tour!
The news that Sviten Special is expanding outside the borders of Sweden is not too surprising; several events, starting with the Cash Game Festival in 2018, and later The Festival Series since 2021, have been already offering Sviten Special tournaments for quite some time. After that, events such as Kings of Tallinn, WSOPC, Irish Poker Open, Malta Poker Festival, and Battle of Malta, have also introduced this amazing game to their schedules. A special shoutout to Olympic Group Entertainment, as well as Jaan Vaabel and Teresa Nousiainen, who have put effort from the get-go to get Sviten Special promoted!
Now, the Asian Poker Tour, will be the next event where Sviten Special will be shining on the tournament schedule, and that's thanks to one guy in particular: Riku Koivurinne. He had visited the Asian Poker Tour back in 2025, and became impressed by the organisation. It wouldn't take long before Riku had introduced himself as a mixed game fanatic, which the organisation of the APT then recognized. After checking with Riku which poker format should be added to the schedule, the answer was clear: Sviten Special.
Neil Johnson, President of the Asian Poker Tour, and prominent figure in the poker industry, is a huge fan of mixed games, and known for bringing mixed games to a wide audience. Without a single doubt, we are certain that Neil will make sure the Sviten Special tournament will run as smoothly as possible at the Asian Poker Tour in Taipei.
>> Learn everything about the game Sviten Special
Riku is no stranger to our Festival community either. With more than $300,000 in tournament earnings over the years, 20% of his tournament results were achieved during The Festival, mainly in Bratislava. One of those results, was a runner-up finish in world's largest Sviten Special tournament in terms of entrants, back in November 2025. Still, he hasn't managed to get a trophy at The Festival, however, something that had to be mentioned by Martin 'Franke' von Zweigbergk. But we expect that it's only a matter of time before he will add a glorious victory with one of the many mixed games available at our event.
Riku Koivurinne: "Ever since first attending the Cash Game Festival almost ten years ago, I have simply loved Sviten Special as a poker format. It has everything I want in poker: the excitement of drawing, multiple strategic decisions, the drama of Omaha, and most importantly, the social aspect. Since those first Festivals, I have always tried to introduce Sviten to new people. Fast forward to last year, I had the chance to attend the Asian Poker Tour for the first time. During my time in Taipei, I was super impressed with the series and the amount of mixed game tournaments offered there.
The tournaments were well organized, and I managed to grab a trophy on the very first tournament I ever played there. During that event, I kept thinking how amazing it would be to have Sviten as part of this event as well in the future. And as luck would have it, this year, I had the opportunity to give out suggestions for the APT mixed game calendar, and my game of choice was clear from the start. And here we are, flying to Taipei once again to play the very first Sviten Special tournament organized on the APT, and I couldn't be more excited!"
Sviten Special at the Asian Poker Tour in Taipei
On April 25, at 7:45 PM local time, the first-ever Sviten Special tournament will take place in Asia. The tournament comes with a buy-in of $310 (TWD 10,000), and will have 15-minute blind levels. With two hours of late registration available, the tournament surely will gather quite the entries. Once Martin 'Franke' von Zweigbergk got hold of the information, via Riku, that the APT would include Sviten Special in their tournament schedule, he reached out to the organisation. Of course, Sviten Special goes close to the heart of Franke, especially since he has Swedish roots, where the game was invented decades ago by another fellow Swede, Anders 'Bengan' Bengtsson.
Not only Riku will be going to the event to be part of the field in the Sviten Special tournament, Franke will also fly over after his Irish Poker Open escapade in Europe, among several others.
>> Full Tournament Schedule APT Taipei 2026
Tournament Info
| Subject | Details |
|---|---|
| Event # | 49 |
| Tournament | Turbo – PL Drawmaha Sviten |
| Date | 25 Apr 2026 |
| Start Time | 7:45 PM |
| Registration Closes | 9:45 PM |
| Buy-in | TWD 10,000 ($310) |
| Starting Stack | 20,000 |
Sviten Special - Expanding Territory
The fact that Sviten Special is becoming a mixed games format that is being included more and more in tournament schedules all over Europe is no surprise. The game brings two existing poker formats together, Draw Poker and Omaha. In America, the game is known as 'Drawmaha', but in Europe it is known as 'Sviten Special'. One of the main differences between these two formats is that whenever a player is only drawing one card, he will get dealt one card face open, and can choose to keep that card or to get another draw instead, face down.
Another highlight in the history of Sviten Special will be the debut of the game at the Irish Poker Open this year. The longest-running tournament outside Las Vegas, which is crushing every year since the take-over by JP McCann and Paul O'Reilly, will let Sviten Special make its debut as well, going with a buy-in of €350. Not just that is reason enough to consider this tournament, but it's also a Championship Event, meaning that a trophy will be awarded to the winner!
>> Full Tournament Schedule Irish Poker Open 2026
The Festival Series, and Martin 'Franke' von Zweigbergk in particular, is super excited that Sviten Special is expanding its territory. The game is extremely popular in Sweden, and now as well among every mixed games player in Europe, and now potentially will be recognized by even more mixed games players around the globe. Take for example Ari Engel, who came down to The Festival Bratislava with his girlfriend Jo Kim all the way from the US. Not only did he visit the event for the first time, he played the game of Sviten Special for the first time ever, ending up being crowned as winner of the event as well!
