ossie monarch ketola

Who Is Ossie ‘Monarch’ Ketola, the Man Taking On the High Stakes Poker World?

Live Poker, Poker Streams, Triton / / By

Over the past couple of weeks, the poker world has been buzzing about one man who’s been taking on some of the biggest names in high stakes one by one, playing them for insane amounts of money, showing no fear whatsoever. His name is Ossie Ketola, but he’s much better known by his alias ‘Monarch.’

As most poker fans are aware, Monarch has played a series of high-stakes sit and goes during Triton Poker events in Cyprus and Jeju, playing the likes of Dan ‘Jungleman’ Cates, Wiktor ‘Limitless’ Malinowski, and, most recently, Alex Foxen, putting millions on the line in every single match.

These three are widely considered some of the best players in the world, yet Ossie doesn’t seem to care. Despite his $15,000,000 loss against Cates, he continues to look for action, and, naturally, the sharks are happy to accommodate.

So, who is this Finnish guy seemingly challenging the entire world of high stakes poker, how does he have so much money, and, maybe most importantly, what is his motivation?

Ossie ‘Monarch’ Ketola’s Background

Over the recent weeks, we got to find out a lot about the man known as ‘Monarch,’ in part through interviews he did with the likes of Poker.org and PokerNews, and in part through his own Twitter/X.

While he isn’t the most forthcoming person in the world, Ketola isn’t too concerned about sharing details about who he is and how rich he is. It’s more of a case that playing poker for insane amounts of money is what he cares about the most. Everything else takes a backseat.

An online casino owner, he seems to have quite a bankroll, at least judging by a recent interview, where he shrugged off a $19,000,000 loss (at the time) as not too substantial.

While he recently picked up a keen interest in poker, his true passion is in creating a fair and scam-free environment for online gambling. As he explains, this battle started when he discovered a great number of irregularities at one of the competitor brands. That’s how the whole ‘Monarch’ brand started.

Right now, Ketola is working to build a fresh online casino that offers players a chance to gamble at even odds. This means no house edge of any sort – just a fair 50/50 proposition.

Judging by everything we’ve seen, he managed to do quite well business-wise, but this still doesn’t answer some of the burning questions about his recent poker endeavors. So, where did the love for high-stakes poker come from?

‘Monarch’ Takes on the Poker World

There are many different ways in which people are introduced to poker and fall in love with the game. For Ketola, it was his friendship with Patrik Antonius.

It was the Finnish high-stakes legend who invited Ketola to one of the Triton events as his pairing in one of the tournaments. While there, Ketola proceeded to play almost a dozen events, cashing in several and even coming close to winning one.

This was truly an amazing achievement, given the fact that ‘Monarch’ had almost no knowledge of the game. He certainly caught a run of good cards, but it wasn’t just that. The young Finnish entrepreneur had a natural inkling for the game.

From that point on, he was hooked, but he wasn’t happy to just play in regular Triton events. Instead, Ossie started to take on the best of the best, starting with ‘Jungleman.’ As he explains, these matches aren’t carefully planned ahead of time. It seems more like a spur-of-the-moment thing.

There is no lack of suitors lining up to take him on. In the world of high stakes poker, this is pretty much a dream-come-true scenario. There is this guy who basically just learned how to play the game, he has a seemingly infinite bankroll, and he will play pretty much anyone.

The only issue is, Ketola’s pockets are much deeper than those of the pros he’s facing, and he is aware of that fact. He knows that, to keep up with the swings, they need to pull their resources together, much like the original corporation had to do to take on Andy Beal.

He seems to enjoy this particular dynamic, and he doesn’t seem naïve in the slightest. Ketola understands that, behind the scenes, they are probably deconstructing his game to the tiniest detail, looking for ways to crush him.

Yet, he doesn’t care. If anything, all this seems to amuse him.

Building the Legacy

Being an intelligent person, ‘Monarch’ understands he doesn’t have an edge in these games. However, he usually gets odds in his matches, which helps level the playing field.

Pros still have an edge, but with odds like 1.25, it is significantly reduced, plus the format they’re playing is usually not super deep stacked. He clearly understands that his chances are much better playing shallower, making for easier decisions.

On top of all this, he is using the hype to build and promote his brand, and it’s certainly working. His matches with the likes of Cates, Malinowski, and Foxen have been all the talk in the gambling world.

In some ways, he is like ‘Isildur’ of live poker, but for him, challenge and adrenaline are just one piece of the puzzle. Ketola has serious long-term plans in the gambling space, and he believes these matches will help him achieve them.

That he has a lot of fun along the way certainly doesn’t hurt.

Is it worth putting millions on the line? That question is hard to answer without a proper perspective. Judging by the way he talks about money, it seems that losing a few million doesn’t seem like a big deal to ‘Monarch,’ and that’s all we have to go on.

What Comes Next?

At the time of writing this article, Ketola is in the middle of a match with Alex Foxen. Just last night, he managed to recover from a loss from the day before, and he is now up $3,000,000.

They took a break because it was too late to start another match, but it’s hard to believe that ‘Monarch’ wouldn’t give his opponent a chance to recover. So, we might see more of the same in the near future.

Beyond that, it’s impossible to tell. The line of people waiting to try their hand against ‘Monarch’ is undoubtedly long, but he is in the position to pick who he wants to play and when.

In fact, just as I was putting this article together, it seems ‘Monarch’ has found his next opponent, so if you’re looking for some poker entertainment tonight, head over to Triton Poker YouTube channel.

How far is Ketola willing to go in terms of pushing buy-ins is another mystery. He seems comfortable playing for $6,000,000 a piece, but if things get off the rails, will he try to go for double or nothing?

We’ll just have to wait and see to get answers to some of these questions, but one thing is certain: Ossie ‘Monarch’ Ketola is one of the most exciting things to happen in poker in recent years. Where this journey ends is anyone’s guess, but we might as well enjoy the ride while it lasts!

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