Ossi Ketola continues to garner considerable attention in the poker world.
After his historic losses to Dan Cates in North Cyprus, and a couple of tough nights against Alex Foxen and Wiktor Malinowski on the Triton Poker set in Jeju, South Korea, Ketola wanted to run it back with Foxen.
Ketola, coming off a $6 million loss to Malinowski and $3 million down to Foxen after splitting two matches, went big from the start. On the second night of their battle, Ketola and Foxen played three separate $6 million buy-in matches into the early morning hours. This time, the result was considerably different, and culminated with another record for the largest televised pot in poker history.
In what was an otherwise exciting moment for poker, a black cloud hung over the proceedings. A post on X by Jay Farber led to a series of replies from Ketola, best known by his online persona ‘Monarch,’ in which the man from Finland repeatedly used racist slurs.
When Cates checked in with Ketola in a post of his own, Ketola doubled down.
During the third match between Ketola and Foxen, just before the record-setting hand, the YouTube live stream cut out for unspecified violations of YouTube’s community guidelines.
Ketola’s heads-up battles carried into for a fourth night, too, as Elvis Talvitie stepped up for a pair of $3 million buy-in matches, too.
Foxen Extends Advantage
After losing his first match against Ketola for $2 million, Foxen flipped the script the second time around, winning a $5 million clash. Unsatisfied, Ketola was anxious to run it back the following night.
With $6 million in chips, and blinds of $30,000-$60,000, Foxen jumped out to an early lead. He extended that advantage by bluffing Ketola off of pocket jacks with ten-high.
$775K WITH AIR!
Pure intimidation from @WAFoxen. pic.twitter.com/eKN3vkWg8e
— Triton Poker (@tritonpoker) September 15, 2025
That lead grew when Foxen nailed a river flush against Ketola’s top two-pair. Ketola managed to get away from the hand, extending the match. But ultimately, little would go his way in the first clash.
On a board of 10♠9♦3♦3♥A♥, Ketola held J♠8♦ for a busted straight draw. With a pot-sized bet left in his stack of $770,000, Ketola shoved the river. Foxen thought it over, utilized a timebank, and ultimately called with K♦9♠.
Alex Foxen @WAFoxen seals the $12,000,000 heads-up battle.@Monarch is down $6,000,000 today.
The show’s not over. The rematch begins. pic.twitter.com/H8PPZe2SRL
— Triton Poker (@tritonpoker) September 15, 2025
Foxen extended his overall advantage against Ketola to $9 million. Ketola briefly stepped away, it was on to round 2 for the night, and a fourth match overall.
Ketola Strikes Back, Twice
The second match flipped the script, with Ketola’s aggression whittling down Foxen’s stack. His lead eventually swelled to more than 5-to-1, and then the deck delivered a deciding blow. Ketola’s pocket queens dwarfed Foxen’s pocket nines, and flopped a set for good measure.
Ketola had evened the score for the night, and reduced Foxen’s advantage back to $3 million. As the sun threatened to rise in Jeju, the pair decided on one final match.
It didn’t take long for history to be made.
Ketola pulled slightly ahead early on, and then came the hand of the match.
Alex Foxen @WAFoxen seals the $12,000,000 heads-up battle.@Monarch is down $6,000,000 today.
The show’s not over. The rematch begins. pic.twitter.com/H8PPZe2SRL
— Triton Poker (@tritonpoker) September 15, 2025
Ketola opened with K♣J♥, and Foxen called with 8♦6♦. A K♦J♦8♣ flop gave Ketola two-pair, and Foxen had a pair of eights and a flush draw. Despite the strength of their hands, both players checked.
The tension built with an A♦ on the turn. Foxen led out for $250,000, over 80% of the pot, and Ketola just called. The K♠ river gave Ketola a full house, and set the players on a collision course. Foxen bet $550,000 into the $800,000 pot, and Ketola ripped it in for $5.05 million effective, the entirety of Foxen’s stack. Foxen lifted his hand from the felt, stared at the cards, and eventually found a call.
Ketola tabled the bad news, and the night’s action was swiftly over. “GG,” said Foxen.
After that match, Ketola’s record at Foxen stood at 3-2, up $3 million. Overall, Ketola was down $17 million, considering the losses to Cates and Malinowski. But there was even more action to come.
Talvitie Steps Up
In the fourth consecutive late night of action from Jeju, Ketola’s Finnish countryman took up the challenge, for what would ultimately be a pair of $3 million buy-in matches. Talvitie has $6.4 million in recorded lifetime tournament earnings. Most notably, Talvitie won $3,542,000 for 5th in the Triton Million Invitational at WSOP Paradise in 2024, and took 7th in a 2022 Triton $200,000 Invitational for $1,050,000.
As had been the case in many of Ketola’s early matches, he got out to a lead. Unfortunately for Ketola, he and Talvitie played a pot for $5.2 million of the $6 million in play that didn’t go his way.
$5.2 MILLION POT@Monarch jams it with A❤️2❤️! pic.twitter.com/MwFA0Ak4Tt
— Triton Poker (@tritonpoker) September 16, 2025
Talvitie rivered trip fives with 6♥5♣ to crack Ketola’s pocket kings, claiming the first match and a $3 million lead.
Not one to let out a window of opportunity get away, Ketola ran it back for another $3 million buy-in.
In the turning point of the second match, Ketola nailed a runner-runner heart flush to take a lead of more than 6-to-1.
— Triton Poker (@tritonpoker) September 16, 2025
After wearing Talvitie down to his last five big blinds, Ketola squared everything up when A♦9♦ held off Talvitie’s J♠10♣.
With a week’s worth of tournament action still to come in Jeju, it feels safe to say that there’s almost certainly more heads-up action to come.
