This simple Swedish gambling game is described in several sources, among them Kortoxen. It can be played by any number of players (though in practice more than 10 or so will become impractical), and requires two separate 52-card decks, in addition to chips for betting.
One player takes the role as the dealer and banker, and shuffles one deck. Each of the other players requests any number of cards from that deck, and places bets on them.
Once the punters are done betting, the banker takes the other deck, shuffles, lets the player to the right cut, and deals a row of four cards. If a player has a card that matches any of these four cards in rank and suit, the bet on that card is pushed (returned to the player), and the card is flipped face down. Another row of four cards is dealt, and any bets on matching cards in this row win even money. Two more rows of four are dealt in the same manner; bets on the cards in the third row win 2 to 1, in the fourth row 3 to 1. Finally, a seventeenth card is dealt, and any lucky player with a bet on this card is paid 7 to 1. Bets on the remaining 35 cards lose, and are taken by the banker.
Odds
As in most any banking game, the banker has a built-in advantage. On average, for every 100 chips bet, punters will receive 92.31 back; the banker's advantage is 7.69%. To make sure no player has an advantage, each player should get to deal the same number of games; for example, passing the bank to the left each three deals.
| Pay | Probability | Return |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | 0.0769 | 0.0000 |
| 1 | 0.0769 | 0.0769 |
| 2 | 0.0769 | 0.1538 |
| 3 | 0.0769 | 0.2308 |
| 7 | 0.0192 | 0.1346 |
| -1 | 0.6731 | -0.6731 |
| Total: | 1.0000 | -0.0769 |
This page was last updated 2020-04-28.