Scandinavian Stud aka Sökö

I got stung by a “sökö” bee (Scandinavian Stud) last week, when couple of my Finnish friends reminded me about this card game- a card game that is considered almost as the national game back in my home country Finland. After being familiarized with the game rules again I convinced my friends that this is the game to play, we sat down around the table and started dealing. After only few rounds I noticed that this is the game for the hard core players, as the 2 players that play regularly poker games had swept clean all rest of us and we we’re left with no chips at all. I was surprised that they got the strategy down so quickly, as this game is mostly played just by Scandinavian players…and I was the only Scandinavian in that group (!).

So, I asked them to list their strategies to me… what made them to steal all the chips in just couple of rounds?

Tip #1: Bet strong in the early stage, even a small pair in sökö is a good hand, played from any position. Don’t let the rounds get to the 4^th Street if you don’t believe you have a hand to win or playing a low pair- if you’re going to bluff you should do it before the 4^th or else it is wiser to fold. Scout your opponents and keep notes on how they do their betting in the first rounds.

Tip #2: If your visible cards are strong enough to beat anybody else’s (and your whole card does not make your hand any stronger) you should ALWAYS check on the river. (My note! I am not quite sure why my friends say you should do this, but I believe it had to do with getting the pot bigger instead of risking that everybody folds when you choose to bet on the river).

Tip #3: ALWAYS play with a good starting hand; fold right away if you’re starting hand is not strong. When playing with fish, this is the quickest way (in addition to bluffing) to get all their chips.

Tip #4: Never play drunk- under any circumstances! And this rule is universal when played any poker or casino game, or when betting in sports, or when placing props.

(You can see the game rules on my “The Games”-page)

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