Poker in Sweden has exploded in recent years. Judging by the enthusiastic response below from several managers involved with Casino Cosmopol, it's one of the best places to play when visiting Europe.
Gambling has an interesting history in Sweden. Back in the year 1020, so the legend goes, Sweden's King Olaf and Norway's King Olaf (no relation) rolled dice to decide ownership of a district. The Swedish Olaf rolled two 6s. The other king rolled a 6 on one die, but Norway Olaf's other die broke, showing a 7.
Sweden has an ancient card game called Skitgubbe, played three-handed. Its likely origin is Finland, and is called Myllymatti there - and is called Mattis in Norway. It's a trick-based game where players collect cards in one phase, and then get rid of them in the second phase. The last player left with cards is called the skitgubbe, or goat.
On June 30, 2001, the first casino in Sweden opened. Casino Cosmopol Sundsvall was the first, and since then, Casino Cosmopol has expanded to three additional locations, all of which offer poker. There have been several top poker players from Sweden. Erik Friberg made the final table of the WSOP this year, finishing 8th. William Thorsson finished 13th in the same event, and also cashed in a side event at the 2005 WPT LA Poker Classic, taking fifth. Peter Lindstrom won the Everest Poker European Championship in September. Martin de Knijff won the WPT Five-Star World Poker Classic back in Season 2, winning a cool $2.7 million. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. Bottom line - if you're facing down a Swedish player in a major event, odds are he'll be a good one.
"We offer: Texas Hold'em, Omaha, 7-Card Stud, and Dealer's Choice," says Karin Hagström of Casino Cosmopol Malmö. "Fixed limit from 50/100 (SEK) and pot limit and no limit from 50/50. At present, 100/100 pot limit is the highest played, although we offer higher limits (up to 500/500). The opening hours of the casino are 1 p.m. until 4 a.m., all days of the year. The poker room is open for cash games from 8 p.m., and tournaments usually start at 6 p.m. Cash games are offered 7 days a week, but Wednesday to Sunday are the most popular days. Mondays are coming up, but on Tuesdays there is usually no game.
Tournaments are held on Mondays, Wednesdays and Sundays - 30 to 50 seats." (Note: 1 SEK or Swedish Krona = $0.13.) When asked how business was at Casino Cosmopol Malmö, Hagström responded: "It is coming up more and more as interest is expanding. We have had a good development of our poker room over the last years, and we are actively working on improvements to meet the demands."
Speaking of popularity: "The demand has increased a lot," Hagström says. "When the poker room first opened we offered only Texas Hold'em fixed limit, and since 2002, we have offered Omaha/dealers choice pot limit, and now, as of October 7, No-Limit as well. Our tournaments are also getting more popular. On Mondays, we have low buy-in tournaments, which are extremely popular, and the interest for our higher ones is usually very good. We can see that people in general are willing to put in more money on poker than before, and the sizes of the pots are getting bigger."
Though the big poker tours haven't yet taken notice of poker in Sweden, the country is not without its share of major events. "No WSOP, WPT or EPT as yet; hopefully in the years to come," says Hagström. "We had our annual tournament, Malmö Open, played for the second year, in June 2006, with a prize pool of 1,800,000 SEK. This year in October (10-15), we are the host for the Swedish Open poker tournament - an event that has been held in Casino Cosmopol in Gothenburg and Stockholm in previous years. Two hundred seats with buy-in 20,000+800 SEK, played October 13- 14. There will be a super satellite, a No-Limit Texas Hold'em freezeout, a Pot- Limit Omaha rebuy, plus a team tournament on the last day. For further information about the Swedish Open, please check our website: www.casinocosmopol.se.
"Our ambition is, of course, to establish Casino Cosmopol internationally, with a competent and high-standard poker room. We offer Texas Hold'em (fixed limit, no limit and pot limit), Omaha (pot limit), 7-Card Stud, and Dealers Choice (pot limit), with Texas Hold'em and Dealers Choice being the most popular games played," says Tiina Korpela, the former poker manager at Casino Cosmopol Stockholm and now the poker manager for all four Casino Cosmopol casinos in Sweden; she refers to the Stockholm casino in this interview. "Pot limit 200/200 SEK, No limit 200/200 SEK and fixed limit 300/600 SEK," Korpela says when asked about high limits at Casino Cosmopol Stockholm.
"Limits higher than this might run during special tournament weeks. The poker room is open daily from 6 p.m. to 5 a.m. During special events, the poker room opens at 1 p.m."
Business is good in Stockholm, according to Korpela. "It just keeps getting bigger and bigger. We have been struggling the past year to find a place for all of our players. The new poker room was warmly welcomed by the players and staff."
Korpela goes into more detail about the poker explosion in Stockholm. "From having one weekly tournament for 30 players in 2003, the number has gone up to 80 seats, four times a week. These tournaments are constantly sold out and divided into two categories: ranking tournaments and 'beginners' tournaments.
Ranking tournaments are both re-buy and freezeout tournaments, and the games and buy-ins vary. Ranking tournaments often create prize pools up to 200,000 SEK. The 'beginners' tournaments are No-Limit freezeouts with 500 SEK and 1000 SEK buy-ins." Stockholm also has several major poker events - it appears there are plenty to go around Sweden! "Stockholm's annual international poker tournament is Nordic Masters, played at the end of March or beginning of April." Korpela says. "This tournament is the biggest event in Sweden, creating prize pools considered high by European standards. Stockholm has even hosted the Swedish Open Championships, and plans to do that even in the future, as the interest from players has been enormous. Three to four times a year, Poker Weekends are offered: this includes a two-day No- Limit Texas Hold'em freezeout with a 10,000 SEK buy-in, and longer opening hours at the poker room. Unless a Poker Weekend or international event is running, a 5000 SEK No- Limit freezeout will be offered monthly. In 2005 Stockholm hosted one of the first Swedish TV tournaments, the Swedish Poker Challenge," she said.
Korpela believes in the future of poker in Stockholm. "It's hard to say how much more it can grow. Right now it seems like we are able to offer the tournaments and games the majority is looking after. I believe Nordic Masters will be attracting an even bigger group of international players in the future. One thing is sure: poker has become a major part of the casino business in Stockholm."
"We offer: Texas Hold'em, Omaha, 7-Card Stud and Dealer's Choice," says Niklas Johansson, duty manager at Casino Cosmopol, referring to the Gothenburg casino. "The most frequent limits are as follows: Fixed limit: 50/100, 100/200, and 200/400 SEK, buy in 20 x Big Blind; Pot limit: 20/20, 50/50, 100/100 and 200/200 SEK, buy in 50 x Big Blind; No Limit: 50/50, min buy in: 1000 / max 5000 SEK; 100/100: min Buy in: 2000 /max 10,000 SEK; 200/200: min buy in: 5000 / max 20,000 SEK; 400/400: min buy in: 10,000 / max 40,000 SEK. The poker room is open daily for cash games, Sunday to Thursday, 6:30 p.m. to 4 a.m., and Friday to Saturday 5:30 p.m. to 4 a.m. Tournaments are Sunday to Thursday, starting at 6:30 p.m."
Johansson is positive about business at Casino Cosmopol Gothenburg: "Good. The interest is still growing and we see new players in the poker room every day.". He adds, "We now also offer complimentary poker packages for beginners. We have gone from tournaments three days a week to five, and with the possibility to buy-in over the Internet at our website. We went from five cash game tables to eight in our poker room. Recently, we started to offer lower limits at a 20/20 pot, and we also started to offer a No-Limit cash game."
As for special events at Gothenburg, Johansson mentions the 4th Annual Christmas Poker Week event, from December 25- 30, a big poker event which culminates in a two-day, 20,800 SEK buy-in freezeout. "I think more and more people will choose to play live poker," Johansson says.
