Since the days of the Poker Boom, the meaning of the term “high stakes poker” has been redefined on multiple occasions, with the games seemingly getting bigger and bigger as time went on.
Back in the early 2000s, a $200/$400 ring game was considered a very high stakes game, while such games are the norm these days.
Yet, even by modern standards for high stakes poker, one player’s approach to the game changed everything over the last couple of years, as Finnish player Ossi Ketola, better known as Monarch, took the poker world by storm and set new rules for what nosebleed stakes actually are.
Ketola, who came from a CS:GO gambling background, entered the poker world abruptly, brought millions of dollars in cash with him, and challenged basically anyone who would play him heads up.
To date, the young Finn has played poker greats like Daniel “Jungleman” Cates, Wiktor “Limitless” Malinowski, and Patrik Antonius, while also challenging recreational players like Kayhan Mokri who simply enjoy gambling it up with him.
In case you’ve been living under a rock and have missed all the high stakes action involving Ketola, keep on reading to get a full scoop on his activities in the poker world.
Monarch Takes the Poker World By Storm
For professional poker players, high stakes poker games are a thing that requires preparation, focus, and a clear head. For Ossi Ketola, its just another pastime that he gets to enjoy thanks to his massive wealth.
Ossi’s first appearances in the official poker circles came in August 2025, when he showed up for a high stakes poker tournament at the Bombay Club, Tallinn, Estonia, and sought out any opponents who would play him heads up.
Ossi had a condition, however, as he would only ever play for seven-figure buy ins, with lower games seemingly not interesting enough to keep his attention.
That time around, Ketola challenged Elias Talvite, Kayhan Mokri, and Dan Cates to heads up matches, winning about $1.5 million in total, as the latter two played him for a cool million each, and both lost.
Just days later, in Cyprus, everyone was ready for a rematch, and Ketola was happy to oblige. Mokri was the first to get a chance, as the two played a $2 million buy in match, which went in Mokri’s favor.
After about 270 hands, Kayhan had won the heads up duel, while Monarch was left begging for a rematch. Since Mokri denied him, the heads-up rematch remains up in the air at the time.
Ketola was looking for a new opponent right away, and found him the very next day in Daniel “Jungleman” Cates, who was willing to take the nosebleed action.
Even for a player of Cates’ profile, it’s still reasonably likely he didn’t have all of his own action, but his play was anything but timid or poor on his part.
Ketola got off to a $3 million lead after three matches, but Cates bounced back over the coming days, as he ended up winning a total of approximately $11,000,000 playing just heads up with his opponents.
During this match, the two players played a pot worth $7.7 million, setting a new record for the biggest TV poker in history at the time it was played.
More Challengers Come Out of the Woodwork
Playing a player of Ossi Ketola’s profile often means facing one of the best card readers and live players of all time, but that’s not the case with Ketola.
Shortly after he lost his heads up matches at the Onyx Cup in Cyprus, Ossi made his way to Jeju, where he attended a Jeju Triton Poker festival.
This time around, Kayhan Mokri, Wiktor Malinowski, Elias Telavite, Bjorn Lee all signed up to play against Monarch, who suddenly found himself overwhelmed with action.
AND IT'S ALL OVER!
— Triton Poker (@tritonpoker) September 11, 2026
Ossi 'Monarch' Ketola takes down Patrik Antonius for $20 million. The final hand of the https://t.co/GKaQVmGLJJ Heads-Up Match does NOT disappoint.
More poker coming your way from Triton Poker Series. Where high-stakes dreams are dealt. pic.twitter.com/75roJlTkhm
Ketola’s matches became an instant hit on YouTube, with both Onyx Poker Live and Triton Poker offering live streams of all the games, featuring some of the biggest pots in the history of the game.
Ossi and Alex Foxen ended up playing a pot worth $12.7 million, as all the money went all-in with pocket Nines vs pocket Eights in a hand that most of the viewers at home would have played differently in both player’s shoes.
The Stakes Go Up and Opponents Keep On Piling Up
To date, Ossi Ketola has had mixed success in his heads up matches, as he won some and lost some, as you would expect. Yet, the losses never deterred him from seeking new opponents and even looking to bump the action up, which wasn’t always easy to do, as his opponents didn’t want to play so high.
In 2026, Ketola was challenged to the biggest heads up match of his career by none other than Patrik Antonius, who agreed to play for $10 million each.
Once again, Ossi came out a winner, which meant he could bask in the glory of his epic victory against one of the best in the world, as well as $10 million in cash.
As things stand now, and following his $10 million victory, it’s very likely we will be seeing a lot of Ossi Ketola in live poker games around the world, as the young entrepreneur clearly seems interested in breaking all the norms and standards.
How Far Can Ketola’s Heads Up Madness Go?
So far, we have seen Ossi play a handful of ultra-high stakes games against well-known pros, but it’s likely we will get to see him in action more in the coming months.
Just how far Ossi can take his heads-up games remains unknown for the time being, but is’s very likely that both the player and most of his would-be opponents are licking their chops, both suspecting they have a significant edge over the other.
Keep your eyes open for more Ossi Ketola heads-up action these days, both from the Triton Poker Jeju and from other upcoming high-stakes tournament stops we have coming up over the next few months.
