Finn Ossi Ketola first made a splash last November at the Triton series in Monte Carlo, where he reached heads-up in the $150k event and lost to Vladimir Korzinin.
He came to that series as an amateur player, but Ossi definitely had some poker experience by that time. On his channel you can find clips from a heads-up match against Patrik Antonius. Two years ago they had fun at the stakes of $500/$1k.
Ossi and Patrick have long been friends. At the same Triton series in Monte Carlo, they played together in a tournament with a buy-in of $200k, to which amateurs invite regulars. Patrick is also rumored to have a share in the online casino Duel.com, owned by Ketola.
In 2015, Ketola created a website to sell Counter-Strike skins. As he wrote on his blog, "I wrote it sitting in my bedroom. I had a budget of €11,000, borrowed the money from a business partner."
Now CSGOEmpire is one of the largest gambling sites, which has games against the casino and bets on cyber sports. Financial transactions are carried out in cryptocurrency.
A couple of weeks ago, Ketola played some expensive heads-up games at the Tallinn series.
He lost his first match with a €500,000 buy-in to compatriot Elias Talvita. But then he won two matches with a double buy-in against Kayhan Mokri and Jungleman.
"Gonna do something new & very fun," Ketola announced the matches on Twitter. "stream going live soon, playing a series of live poker duels against some challengers. Approx $500k-$1m per match. Hopefully Phil Ivey and Jungleman will join."
“I would play with you too,” Timofey Kuznetsov wrote in the comments.
“Are you here?” Ketola asked, but that was the end of the conversation.
The Onyx High Roller Series, organized by Rob Yong, is currently taking place in Cyprus. Ossi Ketola is also there, but he missed all the tournaments.
"Here's the plan," he announced to fans on Twitter. "First $2m rematch with Kayhan. Hopefully Phil Ivey will play too. Also Jungleman coming tonight + possible other guests."
Kayhan won his match, but refused a rematch for €2.5 million per person, citing that he had to fly out early in the morning.
Ketola's next opponent was Daniel Cates. They spent 12 hours at the table and played 6 heads-up matches during the night.
All rounds were held in the cash SNG format, players start with 100BB stacks, blinds do not change during the round. The game goes on until one of the participants loses all the chips, no additional buy-ins are allowed.
They started with a modest €1 million buy-in and blinds of €5k/10k.
The first match lasted only 15 minutes. Ketola got AK, 4-bet all-in and got an instant call. Jungleman was very surprised that his opponent decided to spin only once.
The best hand held.
They decided to play the second match with the same buy-in.
This time the game lasted almost an hour. Cates quickly lost half his stack, failed to get going and in the final hand, shoved 22 blinds with a pair of deuces.
"I want to clarify once again," Ossi said to his opponent. "The odds are 1 million to 1.175M, right?"
"Yeah, after two games you're up 175K," Cates replied. "By the way, can I play with the sticker?"
– Depends on which one.
– GTOWizard.
– Yes, no problem with one like that.
In the third round, the buy-in was raised to €3 million, with blinds of €15k/30k.
Jungleman quickly took the lead and steadily increased his advantage, at some point he had 4.7 million against 1.3 million.
But then the dealer dealt quads into a full house.
Jungleman called a $100k preflop raise and check-called $75,000 on the flop. Ketola bet $150,000 on the turn and called a check-raise to $450,000. Cates led for $825,000 on the river, Ketola thought for a moment with $830,000, and then moved all-in. Cates clarified that he only needed to call $5k, called, and when he saw showdown, he mucked in frustration.
“It’s like some kind of fucking script,” Ketola shook his head.
In the next hand, Jungle beat himself with two pair against two better pair.
Throughout the entire match, Jungleman was constantly on his phone.
"Working on a game?" Ossi asked.
– No, I'm reading a story about myself.
PokerNews recently published an article about how flamboyant millionaire Jason Calacanis did not allow Cates into a closed game for some far-fetched reason and added that Jungle would never get a seat in a game with him.
Cates' stack dropped to $1 million and he moved all-in with top pair on the flop.
The kings held out, and the third round went to Ketola.
The players took an hour break, after which they raised the buy-in to €5 million and the blinds to €25k/50k. But taking into account the handicap and sidebets, the match turned out to be even more expensive.
“We’re playing for $13.3 million,” Ketola told his opponent.
“American dollars?” Jungleman asked.
– Yes.
Cates was clearly outplaying his opponent in this round. Ketola was constantly folding, often with stronger hands. Jungleman won many small pots without a showdown, and then pulled off a bluff that many spectators believed determined the outcome of the entire duel.
Ketola three-bet preflop and check-called the flop and turn. On the river, the Finnish player checked for the third time, and Jungle bet into him all-in. Ketola thought for a few minutes and folded.
– Show me at least one.
– You'll see for yourself soon.
Dan's got 8.2 million versus 1.8, representing quite well for Phenom Poker.
Ketola improved his situation a little, but then threw away his best hand again.
Cates limped, Ketola checked. Daniel bet 50k on the flop, the turn was check-check, and then Ketola bet 150k on the river but folded to a raise of 600k.
On the final hand of the round, Cates 3-bet shoved and was quickly called.
They decided to play the next match with the same buy-in.
“I lost more calories today than when I was boxing,” Ketola shared.
– I prepared very diligently for the duel with you. I played chess for 5 hours straight. Well, did your backers confirm everything?
– We are sorting out the last issues.
– With whom?
– With Trueteller and someone else. I have another question.
– Ask.
– I want to clarify how much we play for.
– 5 million euros plus handicap. You saw that they took away some of the action in the chat. We're playing for 12.8 million US. By the way, do you know what the most expensive heads-up in history was?
– I think ours. Maybe someone in China played more expensively, for example, Chairman. But we definitely have the most expensive heads-up on the stream.
– It seems you're not on such a tilt anymore.
– I confirm. I tilt the most when I lose my friends' money. Much more than when I lose my own.
In this match, Ketola also had troubles from the start. In the first 10 hands, he lost half his stack, and then he was left with very little.
Jungle called the 3-bet and three-barreled all-in on the river. His opponent folded.
Ketola mostly folded the next few hands until he had 750k left. With that stack, he moved all-in with 97o and was already out of the pot on the flop.
"I want to take more for myself in the last match," Jungle said. "I'm currently chatting with some Felix in our chat, he also wants to bet on me, but I don't know him at all."
– This is my friend, I will deal with him myself. How much do you want?
– $3.6 million versus $3 million.
– Let's just add $1 million to the table and that part will be yours. That's a total buy-in of $6 million plus handicap. No whining.
Jungleman chatted with someone again for a few minutes, after which he said he wanted $3.7 million.
– My final word is 3.75 and you can pay for my business jet home. I'll give you all my chips soon anyway.
– I'll gladly accept them. How much do we end up playing for?
– 6 million and a handicap. In dollars it's more than 15 million. Only in this match without phones. I'm tired of you training right during the game.
– I don't train, I just watch showdowns. You can't change the rules during the game.
– Fuck off. We're playing pure poker.
In one of the first hands, a 4-bet pot was played.
Jungle bet 1.4 million preflop, Ketola called. The flop was checked, Cates bet 1.2 million on the turn. Ketola shoved all-in on the river, Jungle thought for a few minutes and folded.
The game was evenly matched for a while, but then Cates started taking down all the small pots again, often without a showdown. Jungle's lead grew to 9 million to 3 million, but then Ketola flopped a straight and won the big pot.
After a few hands, the players were dealt two pairs against two pairs.
Ketola 3-bet and continuation bet the flop. The turn was checked. On the river, Ketola bet 1.4 million into a 2 million pot. Jungle simply called.
After that, Ketola's stack steadily decreased. When he had less than 10 blinds left, he doubled up once.
But soon it all ended.
“I’m going to bed,” Ketola said. “Congratulations.”
– lol rip ~$19m in one sitting, – he wrote a little later on Twitter. – Worth the content though.
“I won,” Jungleman summed up succinctly.
According to HighRollPoker , excluding side bets, Cates earned himself and shareholders $15,160,000 in this session.
Daniel's current graph in streamed games:
