Sviten Special - The Greatest Poker Game
Credit to - http://pokerlistings/blog/the-greatest-poker-game-ever
The title might seem sensational but I assure you this is 🍌 the greatest poker variant I have ever played. This is a game guaranteed to spice up that otherwise dull home 🍌 game.
In fact, this game is so awesome, so terrifically badass, so freakin amazing! I felt I had to write a 🍌 blog and share it with all of you.
The game is called Sviten Special and it was invented by some Swedish 🍌 guy named Anders Bengtsson.
Obviously this Bengtsson guy is a player with a sick need for constant degenerate action on every 🍌 hand. Although I've never met the guy, I'm sure him and I would get along well.
I learned the game from 🍌 a friend of his, Franke Boy. All I have to say is thank you.
Overview
Sviten Special is a split pot game, 🍌 but not in the way you're thinking. The game is basically a mix of Pot-Limit Omaha, and Five-Card Draw. Half 🍌 the pot goes to best draw hand, half the pot to the best Omaha hand.
Rules
The blinds and button all function 🍌 the same as Omaha (or Hold'em). If you don't know what that means you should head to the rules section 🍌 before you read on.
Each player is dealt five cards (all face down), and the first betting round ensues.
Just like Omaha, 🍌 this game is typically played as a Pot-Limit game, since the action is already degenerate enough without allowing over-pot ships; 🍌 I'd recommend you only play it as so.
After the completion of the first betting round a standard 3-card flop is 🍌 dealt, (so far we're just playing 5-card Omaha).
Once that betting round is complete, each player must "lock in" the total 🍌 number of cards they wish to exchange. Players are allowed to keep all cards (stand pat) or exchange up to 🍌 all five (assuming you're playing with five or less players. With six or seven players you must limit the draw 🍌 round to three cards per player). There is only one draw, so choose wisely.
Players announce the number of cards they 🍌 would like to exchange (separating them from their hand so that they can't be changed after announcing) in the standard 🍌 betting order. This means the button will always be the last player to lock in.
Once all players have locked in, 🍌 the dealer deals new cards to all players, just like in standard 5-card draw.
The Draw Twist - Just to make 🍌 things more fun, there's a little twist to the draw portion of the hand. If you choose to exchange only 🍌 one card, the dealer will turn over the top card of the deck, letting all players see that one card. 🍌 You have the choice to take that card, or receive the next card in the deck face down.
Once all players 🍌 have received their new cards,the flop betting round begins.
Once the betting round is over the turn is dealt. The game 🍌 functions the same as Omaha from this point on, until the showdown.
At the showdown the player with the best Omaha 🍌 hand (2 cards from their hand, 3 from the board) wins half the pot, and the player with the best 🍌 draw hand (all five cards from their hand) wins the second half.
Wash rinse repeat.
Notes:
Take care in building side-pots. Splitting the 🍌 pot with side pots is not difficult if you know what you're doing, but if you're new to split pots 🍌 and side pots make sure to build the side pots before you go to the showdown, and deal with each 🍌 pot in turn (starting with the smallest side pots). This will keep confusion to a minimum.
Because of the discards there 🍌 is a maximum number of players for this game. If you're allowing a full 5-card discard you can only play 🍌 with 5 players max, for 6 or 7 you need to limit the discard to 3 cards.
If you run out 🍌 of cards in the stub, all mucked cards (excluding the board burn cards) are re-shuffled back into the deck. The 🍌 deck is cut, and play continues as normal.
Basic Strategy
Just like any split-pot game, you're playing to dominate for half of 🍌 the pot, with as decent a chance as possible to scoop for the whole thing. Because you get to see 🍌 the flop first before you commit to a draw, you want to evaluate your hand at that point.
If you have 🍌 the nuts, or a good chance at making the nuts in Omaha, you want to keep all cards needed for 🍌 that, and drop the rest to try and improve on your draw hand.
If you miss the board entirely, chances are 🍌 you want to fold, unless you have a very strong draw hand. Most players are playing for the Omaha pot 🍌 first, the Draw hand second. If you have two-pair or better in the draw hand, you should often feel very 🍌 confident about your standings.
Pay attention to how many cards each player exchanges. Although a player who drops 4 cards can 🍌 pick up a monster, chances are they'll have nothing better than a pair. If a player draws just one card, 🍌 they will be on a strong made hand (trips or two pair) or are drawing 1 to a flush or 🍌 straight.
Since they get two chances at hitting by drawing one, a player dropping just one card is a very dangerous 🍌 player to pit your draw hand against.
There you have it, Sviten Special. Print this page out and bring it to 🍌 your next home game, just be sure to bring along a handful of re-buys: the action is furious.
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Bones60x 🍌 2012-09-29 23:21:54
Dear S. Lind:
I just want to take a minute here to THANK YOU sincerely for the incredible introduction to 🍌 this Sviten Special game. What an amazing thing it is, indeed!
I first read this article some time ago, but have 🍌 had trouble getting "the boys..." to ever really try it with me. Finally last night there were 6 of us 🍌 getting a bit bored, and boy oh boy, did this thing ever almost literally catch fire!
Just to illustrate, we were 🍌 playing mostly 25cent/50cent Blinds NLHE, PLO, PLO8B, and some 7S8B and 5 Card Draw H/L Declare as well when I 🍌 finally convinced them to try this thing for a "round" (orbit)...
Our biggest pot of the night by that time had 🍌 probably been underR$100 FYI, and most were much smaller than that (starting buyins were justR$40-60 for most of us, and 🍌 there were only a few rebuys at that point).
As soon as we started this thing though, within like 3 hands 🍌 we had 3 people all-in with a pot in theR$300-400 range! And for the rest of the night, it was 🍌 the only game anyone picked (Someone even commented "Well, anything else at this point would be anticlimactic...")!
I mean, it was 🍌 just one of the craziest things I've seen in Poker. The chip case got used up andR$100 bills started coming 🍌 out of people's pockets, and then this guy just pulled out his wallet and slapped it down on the table 🍌 announcing "$500 behind..."!
I almost couldn't believe it when you wrote it of course, I mean, it's just so easy to 🍌 overblow things like this, but again it truly just got everyone going quicker than I could have anticipated and I 🍌 really, really appreciate you taking the time to help us get that started around here... I'm sort of concerned it'll 🍌 become our only game for a while now?!
Now, for a bit more advice/clarification here please... First of all, I went 🍌 back and read about the pre-flop and post-flop betting rounds, and it seems a bit unclear as to whether or 🍌 not the "flop betting round" happens before or after the draw...?
At one point you say "Once all players have received 🍌 their new cards,the flop betting round begins." Is that clear, I mean, aren't we supposed to bet on the flop 🍌 right after it's put down, i.e. before the draw? And then I assume we bet again right after the draw, 🍌 of course before the Turn? Maybe it's just the wording in there in different spots but I want to be 🍌 clear about how many betting rounds there really are and, of course, what we should be calling them please.
Also, what 🍌 is the significance/risk of "locking in" if not done properly? Can you suggest a certain way to do it right 🍌 and properly every time, like what should we verbalize/wait for from each player, etc.?
Finally, I know it's probably very rare, 🍌 but do rank value of suits come into play here as well at least in the draw portions of your 🍌 hand, like if a Club Wheel comes up against a Heart Wheel, does the Heart hand wins that 50% of 🍌 the pot entirely since it outranks Clubs alphabetically?
Again, any more advice you could give on this incredible game (or other 🍌 sites/books/articles/etc.) you could point me to would be greatly, GREATLY APPRECIATED. Take care Sir and THANKS AGAIN!!! ;-)
BONES
Frank 2010-04-11 18:43:48
Svitten 🍌 is the sickest yet most fun game you can play at a home game. I'm sold!
Peter 2010-03-24 22:34:09
The first version 🍌 of this game was played H/L with 5 card draw, split in 3 pots, each 33%. Since then it has 🍌 evolved to only be 2 pots as most new players don't understand a low hand.
chojrak 2010-03-23 19:43:00
Crazy game !!!
Q: What's 🍌 the skill involved if you can have the nuts cracked in super-strange ways?
weee 2010-03-22 03:21:05
its not omaha hi lo
Noroll 2010-03-21 🍌 14:04:53
Ok, here goes!
Honecker is a Hold 'Em split game (hi/lo).
The best Hold' Em bwin backup bet hand wind ½ the pot
and the 🍌 player who has the lowest hand wins the other ½.
For low A=1, 2=2, 3=3,..... J=11, Q=12, K=13. A low hand 🍌 only contains a players REMAINING hole cards (the cards he/she has not discarded!). Meaning if a player after the river 🍌 is dealt has 27 left in his hand, he has a 9 low hand and beats a guy who has 🍌 only a T left (he has a 10 low hand). Low hands of same value split the low half of 🍌 the pot.
Blinds and buttons functions like in standard Hold 'Em. It can be played as NL or PL - your 🍌 choice!
Each player gets dealt 4 hole cards followed by the 1st betting round.
We then head to the flop.
A normal flop 🍌 is dealt.
Then a "discard flop" is dealt - placed in a row under the normal flop. Each player must now 🍌 discard the cards in their hole cards that match cards from the discard flop; meaning if discard flop comes K72 🍌 all players must discard 2's, 7's and K's.
When this is done we have the 2nd round of betting.
The turn is 🍌 the same:
Normal turn card + discard turn card - followed by 3rd betting round.
River:
Same again. River + discard river - 🍌 followed by 4th and final betting round.
At showdown a player's high hand is the best possible Hold 'Em hand made 🍌 from the board + the player's remaining hole cards.
A player's low hand is the number of "dots" left in his 🍌 hole cards as described above. It is possible to have "a blank" for low, if the player has had ALL 🍌 his hole cards discarded - he then has nut low (0 low hand) and plays the board for high!
Notice that 🍌 if the same card appears in the normal board AND the discard board all players must discard that card in 🍌 their hole cards. But the card is still in play (on the board) and CAN be used for making straights/flushes 🍌 etc.
About the game:
Quite often straights will be counterfeited. You may hold AK in your hand to a flop of QJT. 🍌 If an ace then appears on the discard board you must discard your ace. But remember you can bring your 🍌 straight back to live again if another ace hits the board on turn or river!
Aces are of course key cards 🍌 since they make big high hands (especially nut flushes) and are the lowest cards as well.
Take notice though that even 🍌 though you hold the nut flush on say a QJ732 board, you - unlike in normal Hold 'Em, DON'T have 🍌 the nuts!!!
... Another player might have JJJ or even 332 in the hole! (since you are allowed to use as 🍌 many of your hole cards as you wish for your high hand)
The beauty of the game is the discard board. 🍌 You can have a monster hand counterfeited if your key card shows up in the discard board on turn/river. Likewise 🍌 a mediocre hand can turn into a monster by counterfeitng better high hands and improving to a very strong low 🍌 hand.
And hey... If you are dealt AAAA rest assured you have an absolute monster!!! ;-)
chojrak 2010-03-20 21:23:50
Yeah!
I'm interested to find 🍌 out if you are so kind :) Couldn't find it on the web...
Noroll 2010-03-20 14:16:59
Sure sounds like a lot of 🍌 fun and sick action. :-)
I'm already thinking... why not spice it up further and make it omaha h/l?
Meaning
50% for best 🍌 5-card draw hand
25% for best omaha high hand
25% for best omaha low hand (if there is one)
Speaking of sick action 🍌 games: do you know the game Honecker? A friend of mine introduced me to it in our home game. It's 🍌 exciting, extremely simple but yet complex since it's by far the most dynamic poker game I've played. You can have 🍌 the nuts counterfeited in ways you didn't even thought was possible!
I'll post the rules here if anyone's interested?
