Ossi Ketola, the man best known as ‘Monarch’ from his days as an esports pro, returned for another series of ultra high-stakes, heads-up poker matches, during the Triton Super High Roller Series Jeju festival.
The Finnish online casino owner and frequent edgelord battled high-stakes online stalwart Wiktor ‘limitless’ Malinowski. Ketola’s casino, Duel, sponsored the Triton live stream, and by the night’s end, Ketola was $6 million richer.
But as has been the case over the last few years of high-stakes matches involving Ketola, the compelling action at the table battled against controversy and poor taste for the headline of the day.
On the felt, Ketola and Malinowski battled in a series of four heads-up matches, renewing a rivalry from a year ago. In the first match, each player put up $1 million. Less than 20 minutes into the match, with most of the money in play in the pot, Ketola got his money in good with 9♥6♣ against Malinowski’s pocket kings on the turn of a K♥8♥7♣5♠ board.
🤯 $2 MILLION IN THE MIDDLE.
Monarch and @Limitless_poker start things off FAST.
The https://t.co/GKaQVmGLJJ Heads-Up match continues, streaming live on all Triton Poker Series channels. pic.twitter.com/8INbaCYp6H
— Triton Poker (@tritonpoker) September 9, 2026
Malinowski, who had Ketola slightly outchipped, found the 5♥ on the river to make a full house, winning the first match.
Broadcast Invokes Accused Rapist
During that first match between Ketola and Malinowski, in the midst of action, an Andrew Tate impersonator made an appearance at the table. After doing an exaggerated dance routine, the Tate impersonator planted a kiss on Malinowski’s cheek, and then broke into song.
The impersonator, who has allegedly appeared on Duel streams in the past, left a lipstick mark on Malinowski’s cheek that remained for the rest of the night. The Triton commentary team also played into the bit, referencing ‘Mr. Tate’ and laughing as the performance played out. The sequence was later edited out of the archived video on Triton’s YouTube page.
The real Andrew Tate, an influencer commonly associated with the “manosphere” corner of the internet, is currently in federal custody in Miami, Florida, alongside his brother, Tristan. They are fighting extradition to the U.K., where they face charges of rape, human trafficking, and exploitation of minors.
The Poker Continues
Following the trajectory of previous Ketola matchups, the stakes doubled to $2 million from each player, and the action continued. Ketola opened up a lead, and then closed out Malinowski in another major pot, worth $3.5 million. On a board reading 8♥7♠2♦Q♥5♣, Ketola shoved with his pocket kings. Malinowski called off his stack with A♣Q♦, and Ketola was up $1 million after two matches.
💸 $4 MILLION POT!
Monarch has Limitless right where he wants him. The turn makes it near impossible to escape.
The https://t.co/GKaQVmGLJJ Heads-Up match, streaming live on all Triton Poker Series channels. pic.twitter.com/nuPGz6fXoP
— Triton Poker (@tritonpoker) September 9, 2026
Another $4 million match quickly followed. After Ketola made a big three-bet with Q♥9♥, Malinowski over-bet jammed with A♣Q♣. Ketola eventually elected to call, and then found a 9♠ on the turn to take a decisive lead in the match. Malinowski battled back, but Ketola secured his second consecutive victory shortly thereafter.
☠️ HE CALLED ALL-IN WITH WHAT?
Monarch just wants the match to end. Limitless has him dominated. The cards decide the rest.
The https://t.co/GKaQVmGLJJ Heads-Up match, only on Triton Poker Series channels. pic.twitter.com/PlNKqiTtGJ
— Triton Poker (@tritonpoker) September 9, 2026
On a board reading A♠6♦5♠7♥2♦, Ketola’s A♥K♣ outkicked Malinowski’s A♣8♥, and Ketola took a $3 million lead on the night.
In the fourth, and ultimately final match of the night, stretched for over three hours. Ketola grinded his way to a 3:1 lead heading into the final hand. After Malinowski limped the button with A♣5♠, Ketola made a 3.5X raise from the big blind with A♦8♦. Malinowski called, and the flop came down A♠Q♠10♥. Ketola checked, Malinowski checked back, and the 8♥ fell on the turn. Ketola checked again, Malinowski made just under a pot-sized bet, and Ketola flat called.
THIS MATCH IS OVER!
Monarch takes down Limitless in a https://t.co/GKaQVmGLJJ Heads-Up battle for the ages. pic.twitter.com/Hmj7Ox7JZf
— Triton Poker (@tritonpoker) September 10, 2026
On a 3♦ river, Ketola checked, Malinowski made a half-pot bet, and Ketola shoved all in. Malinowski, with the match at risk, eventually found a call with his pair of aces, and Ketola clinched a $6 million win on the night.
Ketola Courts Consistent Controversy
Throughout his time in the high stakes poker spotlight, Ketola has leaned heavily into incendiary behavior. His conduct and behavior has gone so far as to trigger multiple account bans on Twitter/X , which compared to other social media platforms, has a higher threshold for questionable behavior before banning users.
In recent weeks, Ketola was involved in more controversy of his own. In his home country of Finland, Ketola inserted himself into a scenario of dueling political protests and counter protests. Ketola went out into the crowd wearing a costume reminiscent of SpongeBob SquarePants, a character that pops up on Duel streaming content on a regular basis.
Ketola was clip-farming, a tactic used by content creators where they insert themselves into a situation to cause a potentially viral moment. He was flanked by a group of men in black wearing face masks surrounding and protecting him, antagonized the group who characterized themselves as anti-fascists and then ran back to a waiting car as the group chased after him.
As the car sped away, Ketola shouted out ‘Sieg Heil’ from the open car door, and then dropped a series of racist slurs as he recapped the aftermath for the camera. Ketola was briefly detained by police, but quickly released without charges.
Ketola’s behavior has done little to curtail the action he gets at the table. Last year, he played these same types of matches in Cyprus at the Onyx Cup, and last year’s Triton Jeju stop.
In Cyprus, Ketola played multiple opponents, but the highlight was Dan Cates winning $14 million.
Then, in Jeju, Ketola lost another $6 million in a series of matches against Malinowski and Alex Foxen.
