Who is Ossi Ketola?
There are only a handful of people in the world who are ready to play poker for the highest stakes here and now — and Ossi Ketola is one of them. He entered the poker world in 2024 like a bombshell. But that’s not all: in 2025 he set a record (or anti-record?) that will likely remain unbeaten for quite some time.
Main Information
- Nickname: Monarch, Juppi
- Nationality: Finland
- Residence: Finland
- Born: 1997
- Age: 27–28
Ossi Ketola Last Results
- 5 place — $100K WSOP 2025 Main Event, 2024 — $1,172,000
- 2 place — $150K NLHE 8-handed Triton Monte Carlo, 2024 — $2,970,000
- 21 place — $125K NLHE 8-handed Triton Monte Carlo, 2024 — $218,000
Ossi Ketola Biography
Ossi Ketola’s biography has to be pieced together bit by bit. There is a lot of conflicting information about this player on the internet, some of it deliberately spread as fake news by sources close to Ketola. We tried to collect only verified details. Here are a few facts from his life.In 2008 Ossi Ketola appeared on the MTV3 show Ennätystehdas (“Factory of Records”), where guests attempt to break world records. Ossi tried to set a speed-grinding record in Diablo III but failed.
At the age of 14 Ketola founded his own company Helpot Huvit, which rented out boats, fishing rods, sun loungers, grills, camping equipment and everything else needed for tourism and parties. His sister and a friend worked alongside him.
Where did Ossi Ketola get so much money?
Ossi Ketola spent his childhood inside RuneScape — an online RPG resembling GTA in an 18th-century setting. He played under the nickname “joopi.” Together with his business partner known as IZinC, also known as EyE (real name Killian McKeon-Eccles), Ketola at the age of 16 launched the platform BigBoiBets, where players could play poker, roulette and dice. BigBoiBets didn’t take real money, but it used RuneScape in-game currency, which could be exchanged for real money through third parties.
This marked the beginning of Ossi Ketola’s empire.
From the launch of BigBoiBets, IZinC handled most of the project, but after a few months he became inactive. At that point Ossi decided to drop out of school to devote himself to BigBoiBets. Meanwhile IZinC was busy with Real World Trading — selling RuneScape GP for cash.
Competition in RuneScape gambling was fierce at the time. IZinC suggested a radical method to fight it: DDoS attacks on competitors’ servers. And it worked. Ketola DDoSed and took down several competitors: RuneChat, DragonDyce, MMO Poker, Cora Dyce.
Ossi owned 30% of BigBoiBets. He was forced to attack competitors under the threat of losing his stake — this was his agreement with IZinC.
According to Ossi, IZinC made him take modafinil (a stimulant used for narcolepsy) to boost his productivity, allowing him to work 35 hours straight with only a few 15-minute breaks.
Eight months after launch, IZinC refused to pay Ossi his share of advertising revenue and rake. He forced Ossi to sell his stake in BigBoiBets, after which Ossi was banned from the site altogether.
Ketola then launched another platform on his own — RSGambling.com. The site did not last long, as IZinC spread rumors about his former partner’s fraud, leading to attacks and the shutdown of the site.
But Ketola went even further.
After that Joopi took the new alias “Monarch” to “climb the throne” of CS:GO gambling websites. In 2016, two years after RSGambling closed, Monarch took out an €11K loan and launched his third site — CSGOEmpire, a gambling platform offering roulette, coinflip, match betting and case openings.
The project was extremely successful and generated huge profits. Over 4 years, 5 million users registered on the site. Estimates put the value of CSGOEmpire in the hundreds of millions of euros.
In 2017 CSGOEmpire became a sponsor for almost every CSGO influencer with even a modest audience. They signed mOE for $500K.
At the same time Ketola’s former partner Killian, under the name EyE, launched his own site — CSGORoll — which also became successful, sponsoring G2 Esports, one of the largest esports organizations.
Both CSGOEmpire and CSGORoll were gambling sites where players used in-game currency to bet. The biggest issue with such sites was the lack of regulation and KYC.
Former partners began accusing each other of fraud. The loudest scandal happened in March 2024 during the PGL Copenhagen Major. In the middle of the Mouze vs G2 Esports match, people hired by Ketola stormed the stage. The match was delayed for 30 minutes and the trophy was damaged.
Today Ketola is the CEO of Duel.com — a new online casino he launched together with Patrik Antonius. The platform aims to offer “fairer” games with lower house edge compared to other sites. According to Antonius, this was in response to the unfairness rampant in the online gambling industry.
Ossi Ketola Live Poker Achievements
Ketola stormed onto the high-stakes poker scene in November 2024, debuting at Triton Monte Carlo with $3,578,000 in winnings. His best finish was 2 place in the $150K Main Event, won by Vladimir Korzhinin ($4.35M). Immediately after his victory Korzhinin handed the trophy to Ketola, saying: “I have no place to store it.”
Ketola continues to play only high roller events and regularly challenges players to heads-up matches.
In August 2025 Ketola organized several heads-up matches at the Bombay Club in Tallinn. They played $5K/10K stakes. Ketola played three matches in Tallinn:
- Against Elias Talvite, each bought in for €500K. Winner: Elias Talvite.
- Against Kayhan Mokri, each bought in for €1M. Winner: Ossi Ketola.
- Against Dan “Jungleman” Cates, each bought in for €1M. Winner: Ossi Ketola.
The duels didn’t stop there. Two weeks later Ketola organized another heads-up session at Onyx Poker Club in Cyprus.
This time Ketola and Mokri each put up €2M. In a grueling match where both players were falling asleep, Mokri won. Ketola wanted a rematch, but the filming crew refused due to exhaustion, so the matches were postponed.
On August 19 Ketola and Cates played 6 heads-up matches:
- €1M buy-in — Cates wins
- €1M buy-in — Ketola wins
- €3M buy-in — Ketola wins
- €5M buy-in — Cates wins
- €5M buy-in — Cates wins
- €6M buy-in — Cates wins
Two records were set during this match.
First: the largest pot ever played on a poker stream. The pot contained $5.2M when Ketola fired a $2.53M river bet. Important note: pots were displayed in $, but buy-ins were in €. The total pot without the river bet exceeded $6M.
Second: the biggest losing streak in poker history. Ketola lost €13M in a single night — more than anyone else in documented poker history.
Ossi Ketola Online Poker Achievements
Ketola does not play poker online. He is a regular only in live high-stakes tournaments and cash games.
Ossi Ketola Top Five Career Cashes Prizes
- 2 place — $150K NLHE 8-handed Triton Monte Carlo, 2024 — $2,970,000
- 5 place — $100K WSOP 2025 Main Event, 2024 — $1,172,000
- 21 place — $125K NLHE 8-handed Triton Monte Carlo, 2024 — $218,000
- 5 place — $40K NLHE Mystery Bounty Triton Monte Carlo, 2024 — $1,172,000
- 16 place — $100K NLHE 8-handed Triton Monte Carlo, 2024 — $1,172,000
Ossi Ketola Socials
FAQ
Is Ossi Ketola good at poker?
That’s a difficult question to answer. It’s important to remember that Ketola is not a professional poker player — he made his fortune running gambling platforms. He is, however, one of the few players willing to take on anyone at the highest stakes in 2025.
Does Ossi Ketola still play poker?
Yes, Ketola continues to play actively.
What is Ossi Ketola’s nickname?
Ketola does not play online poker, but he is known under the nickname Monarch.
What is Ossi Ketola’s net worth?
His total live tournament winnings amount to $4.75M as of August 2025.