The most expensive poker game ever televised
The poker community expressed a healthy dose of incredulity at what took place in The Onyx Club last night but according to the club’s owner Rob Yong, the action was as wild as it was presented. Having lost €2m ($2.3m) to Danish poker pro Kayhan Mokri in an epic match on Monday, Finnish e-sports titan of industry turned high stakes poker player Ossi ‘The Monarch’ Ketola took on Dan ‘Jungleman’ Cates in an engrossing nose-bleed heads-up challenge in the Merit Casino in North Cyprus.
In 2015, Ketola founded CSGOEmpire, an online gambling platform that let users deposit CS:GO skins or cryptocurrency to play various games or place wagers on esports matches. That passion for gaming eventually led him to poker, and in the last year, he has attended some Triton events, pitting his wits against the games greats.
Impressively, he cashed four times in Monaco in November 2024, including a 2nd place finish for almost €3m ($3.5m) in the €150,000 ($174,640) event, losing to Vladimir ‘Gambledore’ Korzinin. In December, Ketola went to the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Bahamas where he took 5th in the $100,000 Triton event for $1.17m. This week, he is in The Onyx Club looking to make waves and content by battling Cates.
The stakes were raised to $3,000,000 in Game 3
Playing for $1,000,000 apiece, Cates won Game 1. Ketola took down Game 2. The stakes were raised to $3,000,000 in Game 3 and Ketola emerged victorious, partly thanks to a wild hand where he flopped quads and Cates turned a boat.
Game 4 produces an audacious bluff
That was when things got really spicy. Once again, the price of poker went up – this time to $5,000,000 with mind-boggling blinds of $25K/$50K. The audience were about to watch the most expensive poker game ever televised.
Heading into their sixth hour of heads-up poker, a little bit of edge was creeping into the confrontation. Ketola had the wind at his back but Cates seemed locked-in. Some verbal jousting from both was par for the course but it was Cates who found his weapon of choice with an audacious three-street bluff.
After 3-betting A♣️8♣️, Ketola checked on A♥️Q♦️T♦️. Having made the call pre-flop with 5♦️3♦️, Cates immediately activated with a bet of $400,000 into a pot of $900,000, semi-bluffing into his opponent whose line implied he had a value hand. With top pair, Ketola made the call and the turn brought the 9♣️. Once again, he check-called as, this time, Cates bet $700,000 into $1.7m.
Cates’ demeanour suggested that he had just gotten away with larceny
The river came the 7♣️ and for a third time, Ketola checked it over to his opponent. Cates bet all of Ketola’s remaining chips with a bet of $1.8m into a pot of $3.1m. After a long tank, Ketola released and, while he didn’t show his hand, Cates’ demeanour suggested that he had just gotten away with larceny.
Game 6 produces fireworks
Ketola never really made a hand after that and got whittled away to cede Game 4 to Cates. A re-match was quickly requested and Game 5 was all one-way traffic as Cates relentlessly made the best hand and Ketola succumbed to death by a thousand cuts.
Things got a little testy ahead of Game 6 as Cates procured more of his own action, the stakes were raised once again and Ketola sought to restrict Cates’ in-game phone use. There was also a side debate on who was paying for the private jets home as both players traded barbs before and as the $12m game got underway. Ketola was buried $7m, playing poorly by his own admission and becoming impatient with his opponent who seemed to be making reasonable requests.
nudging his way to a $900,000 profit before the fireworks of Hand 9
Cates had the best of the early going, nudging his way to a $900,000 profit before the fireworks of Hand 9 as Cates had his 4bet with A♥️8♣️ called by Ketola’s A♣️J♣️. With $2.8m in the middle, both players checked the Q♠️7♠️5♣️ flop. The turn brought the J♠️ and Cates delay-cbet to the tune of $1.2m after another Ketola check. Ketola made the call and the A♦️ hit the river.
With a pot of $5.2m, and a stack to pot ratio of 0.5:1, Ketola led all-in for $2.53m, putting Cates in the blender. As Cates dissected the hand for what was the largest pot in poker TV history, he began to do some out loud combination-counting. Ketola’s body-language exuded strength but Cates seemed more concerned about the theoretical aspects of the hand and the arrival of his food. Chomping down on a breadstick, he correctly tossed in his cards.
Game 6 highlight hands
Hand #12
Cates 3-bet T♦️4♦️, eliciting a call from Ketola’s A♦️J♠️. A board of 8♦️7♦️2♠️7♥️ was checked all the way to the turn. The river 9♦️ completed Cates’ flush and he pursued and got value with a half-pot vet. The stacks were level once again.
Hand #14
Cates made a royal flush in a relatively small pot. “This looks extremely rigged”, said Ketola. An unimpressed seen-it-all-before but also visibly exhausted Cates just shrugged.
Hand #30
Cates fired a river overbet with the J♦️7♣️ on a board of T♥️5♦️2♣️5♣️4♣️. Having found the call on the turn with the A♥️2♠️, Ketola was unable to find the hero call on the river and with that, Cates had an almost 3:1 chip-lead.
Hand #37
Ketola flopped a straight with Q♦️9♣️ on J♠️T♥️8♠️ versus Cates’ 9♦️3♣️. A check-raise to $650,000 was quickly called by Cates and both players saw a board-pairing 8♣️. Ketola slyly checked it over to Cates once again, earning a bet of $700,000. Casually flicking in the call, it looked as though he had set up Cates perfectly but then Ketola blundered with a river lead on the 5♣️.
Hand #43
Ketola 3-bet with K♥️Q♥️ and was called by Cates’ A♣️J♠️. The flop came K♠️Q♣️J♣️ and Ketola’s cbet was called by Cates. On the turn, there was $2m in the pot and it came the A♠️, giving Cates the lead. The action went check-check but the 7♥️ river emboldened Ketola to bet $1.4m, a thin value that put Cates in an uncomfortable spot. After some consideration, he ultimately made the call to drag in a $4.8m pot.
Hand #45
Cates played top pair slowly and snapped off a river overbet bluff when Ketola missed his turned flush draw. That hand gave Cates a 5:1 chiplead.
Hand #46
Ketola woke up with Kings, pursuing value on Q♦️5♠️2♣️, inducing a raise from Cates’ A♥️2♥️ who quickly folded to the 3bet.
Hand #49
Cates found a successful above-the-rim river bluff with A♠️8♥️ on 5♣️4♣️2♦️T♣️5♠️ after Ketola sought thin value with A♣️2♠️.
Hand #77
After an extended period of back and forth, Ketola was left with just $400K after he flopped bottom pair with 8♦️4♦️ on Q♣️9♥️4♣️ and called two streets versus Cates’ Q♦️J♣️.
Hand #82
Despite doubling with K♠️J♠️ versus K♦️9♦️ in Hand #79, Ketola finally succumbed to Cates after he shoved Q♥️3♥️ into A♦️8♥️. A clean board hit the desk and that was all she wrote for the $12m match.
Eight-figure day
In the end, Cates stumbled to bed eight-figures richer. Having spotted his opponent an undisclosed handicap, he successfully converted his skill edge to book a memorable victory, winning 4:2 in games but closing out the three biggest ones. His prediction was accurate:
It certainly was an entertaining day and night and almost next morning watching the two men slug it out for twelve hours. Credit to James Dempsey and his co-commentators Steve Warburton and Jordan Westmorland who put in a shift, keeping the onlookers entertained with some sharp analysis and humorous observations.
The Onyx Club at the Merit Casino in Kyrenia, North Cyprus advertises itself as the premiere high stakes poker destination. The Super High Roller Series and accompanying high stakes cash games delivered last week but this record-breaking marathon stream certainly gave credence to that claim.
