Ossi Eemeli Ketola (born 1997) is a Finnish entrepreneur and high-stakes poker player known online as "Monarch." He is the founder of the Counter-Strike 2 skin-gambling platform CSGOEmpire and the casino Duel.com. Ketola gained international prominence in 2024–2025 for participating in some of the highest-stakes heads-up poker matches in the history of the game.
Ketola was raised in Vammala, Finland (now part of Sastamala). He showed an early interest in business and media; as a child, he appeared on the Finnish television program Ennätystehdas in 2008. By the age of 14, he had established a local tourism equipment-rental business in his hometown known as "Helpot Huvit." Around 2014, he launched BigBoiBets, a gambling platform based on RuneScape in-game currency, which served as one of his first ventures into the online gambling industry.
In 2016, at age 18, Ketola founded CSGOEmpire, a platform allowing users to wager Counter-Strike weapon skins. The site became one of the most prominent skin-gambling platforms globally.
In 2025, Ketola expanded his portfolio by founding Duel.com, a cryptocurrency-based online casino. Serving as CEO, Ketola positioned Duel.com as a transparent alternative in the industry, featuring games with 0% house edge to attract high-volume players.
Ketola entered the live tournament circuit in 2024, quickly establishing himself at the "nosebleed" stakes. He finished as the runner-up in a $159,000 Triton Poker Super High Roller event in Monte Carlo, earning $2.97 million, and placed fifth in the Triton Invitational Main Event in the Bahamas later that year. By 2025, his recorded live tournament earnings had exceeded $5 million.
Beyond tournaments, Ketola is best known for his high-stakes cash games, which are often streamed on the platform Kick. He has invested millions of dollars in buy-ins across events in Cyprus, Jeju, and South Korea. He is particularly noted for his heads-up "duels" against some of the world's most elite players, including Dan "Jungleman" Cates, Bjorn Li, Kayhan Mokri, Alex Foxen, Patrik Antonius, and Wiktor Malinowski.
During these matches, Ketola participated in some of the largest pots ever recorded in televised or streamed poker, including a record-breaking $12.7 million pot against Bjorn Li. His series of matches against Dan Cates in 2025 became a major focal point of the poker community, featuring buy-ins ranging over $10 million.