Ossi “Monarch” Ketola is back playing nosebleed-stakes heads-up poker at Triton Poker Super High Roller Series Jeju II, with Wiktor “Limitless” Malinowski sitting across the table once again.
The pair each put up $1 million for the first match of their Triton Poker Series Jeju II $2M Heads-Up Battle, but anyone settling in for a long session didn’t get one.
Malinowski controlled the opening exchanges and caught Ketola bluffing to win the first significant pot. A few hands later, the entire $2 million match was over following a brutal cooler worth $1.81 million.
The pair immediately agreed to run it back for $4 million, putting up $2 million each for Match 2.
Unexpected Guest Interrupts $2M Heads-Up Battle
Before the hand that decided the match, there was an interruption that neither player seemed to be expecting.
A male dancer, that resembled Andrew Tate according to the commentary team, appeared beside the table and started dancing around Malinowski, shaking his hips before planting a kiss on the Polish pro’s cheek. He also fed Malinowski a shot before eventually making his exit.
With the unexpected entertainment out of the way, the players got back to poker. It didn’t take long for a pot worth almost the entire $2 million on the table to develop.
$1.81M Cooler Ends Match in Just a Few Hands
With the blinds at $5,000/$10,000, Malinowski looked down at K♣K♦ on the button and raised to $25,000. Ketola defended 9♥6♣, and both players found plenty to like about the K♥8♥7♣ flop.
Malinowski had flopped top set, while Ketola had an open-ended straight draw. Ketola checked and Malinowski continued for $15,000. Ketola check-raised to $50,000 and Malinowski elected to just call with his set.
The 5♠ turn was the card Ketola was looking for, completing his nine-high straight and giving him the nuts.
Ketola checked again and Malinowski bet $75,000. For the second street in a row, Ketola came back with a check-raise, this time making it $250,000. Malinowski shoved.
Ketola, sitting with the nuts, took some time before committing the remaining $580,000 in his stack. The $1,810,000 pot was his to lose, with Malinowski needing the board to pair on the river. And the 5♥ did exactly that.
Malinowski improved to a full house, kings full of fives, and scooped all of the money on the table to bring the opening match to an abrupt end.
Ketola knew his turn tank with the nuts would come back to bite him.
“I knew it would be an expensive slow roll. You shouldn’t f*** with the universe,” he said. “But I did it for the clip farm.”
Losing $1M? Double the Stakes
Almost immediately after Match 1 finished, Ketola and Malinowski agreed to another heads-up battle, only this time with $4 million on the table.
Both players started the second contest with $2 million stacks, doubling their original buy-ins as Ketola went straight back in search of revenge.
The match is ongoing at Triton Jeju II, with PokerNews following the action from Les A Casino in its Daily Highlights Blog. The heads-up battle can also be watched through Triton Poker’s streaming channels.
Monarch No Stranger to Million-Dollar Heads-Up Matches
Ketola’s willingness to immediately double the stakes won’t surprise anyone who followed his heads-up exploits in 2025.
His biggest run of matches came against Dan “Jungleman” Cates at the Onyx Super High Roller Series Cyprus. The pair played six heads-up contests with increasingly eye-watering buy-ins, beginning at €1 million each before eventually reaching €6 million apiece.
Ketola won two of the first three matches, but Cates took the final three to finish their series with a €13 million profit, approximately $15 million at the time.
| Match | Buy-In | Winner |
|---|---|---|
| Match 1 | €1,000,000 | Jungleman |
| Match 2 | €1,000,000 | Monarch |
| Match 3 | €3,000,000 | Monarch |
| Match 4 | €5,000,000 | Jungleman |
| Match 5 | €5,000,000 | Jungleman |
| Match 6 | €6,000,000 | Jungleman |
Ketola was back at it during Triton Jeju in September 2025, playing another series of heads-up matches against Bjorn Li.
Li won three of their four $2 million-a-piece contests before the pair cranked up the stakes for one final rematch. Ketola went on to win that match, which featured one of the biggest hands ever seen on a poker livestream.
With the blinds at $40,000/$80,000, Ketola got $6.35 million into the middle preflop with pocket nines against Li’s pocket eights. The better pair held to send the $12.7 million pot to Ketola, who ultimately finished their five-match series $4 million in profit.
That came only days after Ketola had scooped a $10.99 million pot against Alex Foxen at the same Triton festival.
Calum Grant
Senior Editor & Live Events Executive