CSGOEmpire owner Monarch loses $19M in the largest public poker game ever
The biggest poker match ever streamed played out on YouTube as Counter-Strike mogul Ossi ‘Monarch’ Ketola battled poker legend Dan ‘Jungleman’ Cates in a marathon session that ended with Monarch dropping $19 million.
Broadcast live on Onyx Live’sYouTubechannel from Merit Royal Diamond on August 19, the spectacle featured extremely high-stakes matches with buy-ins climbing as high as €6 million. Thousands tuned in as the pair collided in what is now being called thelargest public poker gamein history.
Cates struck first in a €2 million opener, but Monarch bounced back in the next two contests, including a €3 million buy-in where he steamrolled Jungleman with back-to-back coolers and some fearless bluffs.
Record pots and brutal swings
As the night escalated, so did the buy-ins. The two traded massive blows, including a €2.8 million pot where Monarch flopped quads, which won out against Cates’ eventual full house.
One of THE BIGGEST pots in the history of poker! 🤯@Monarchpic.twitter.com/kgBhUvnFHJ
The games continued, with Jungleman pulling off an impressive bluff with 5-3, making Monarch fold his pair of Aces.
$10,000,000 HEADS UP MATCHTHE SICKEST BLUFF IN POKER HISTORYpic.twitter.com/QjeTRWWJcF
Not long after, they battled in astaggering €7.7 million hand, the largest pot of the entire session and the biggest televised poker hand in history.
Despite Monarch holding the lead at that point, the tide soon turned. Jungleman locked in key pots down the stretch, winning four of the six matches and leaving with a €13 million profit, equal to around $15 million USD.
The Biggest Televised Poker Hand EVER! 🤯@MonarchVS@junglemandan@PokerNewspic.twitter.com/vRREGG7vLZ
For Monarch, he ended up losing $19M throughout the marathon in one of the most expensive single-night defeats ever publicly witnessed in poker. Still, the CSGOEmpire founder isn’t exactly strapped for cash.
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“lol rip ~$19m in one sitting,” hecommented on Xfollowing the stream. “Worth the content though.”
The Finnish entrepreneur has been running businesses since he was 14 and built his fortune in 2016 when he launched theCounter-Strikeskin gambling site that exploded in popularity.
While Jungleman walked away with the glory, the night cemented both players in poker history and gave fans a rare glimpse at the highest stakes the game has ever seen.
