A straight flush, a brutal upset! Patrik Antonius suffers a heartbreaking defeat in the $20 million poker duel.

Patrik Antonius lost $10 million in the biggest heads-up match in live poker history. Ossi “Monarch” Ketola hit a straight flush and successfully bluffed multiple times, ending the $20 million duel.

Ossi “Monarch” Ketola just wanted to “get a feel for it” in a $20 million heads-up match against Poker Hall of Famer Patrik Antonius, the largest heads-up match in live poker history.

These two Finnish high-stakes players certainly felt it – each bought in for $10 million, and the match turned into an extremely intense battle during the Triton Poker Series in Jeju. Monarch hit a straight flush to help him win; he also pulled off one of the most daring bluffs early in the tournament, risking $3 million with only 6-high, a bet so powerful that it forced his opponent to fold top pair.

Antonius, a seasoned veteran, may have realized he was bluffed in that hand, which could have influenced his subsequent decisions. One such decision was calling a six-figure river bet with Q-high, which was the correct call because Ketola only had 8-high.

Fighting for a record-breaking pot

However, Monarch maintained a lead for most of the early game. But when he reached a pot of $5.2 million, he encountered a brutal river – Monarch flopped bottom two pair, while Antonius made an even stronger two pair on the river. This gave the Hall of Famer a slight chip lead.

Shortly after this upset, the action intensified. Monarch, holding Q♦3♦, hit top pair on the board 10♦Q♣2♥6♠. Antonius raised pre-flop with A♦5♦ and continued to aggressively bet with A-high on the flop and turn, only to be called. He eventually folded on an unhelpful river, losing a huge pot and restoring Monarch to a nearly 2:1 chip lead.

Monarch lost $15 million to Dan “Jungleman” Cates in a notorious heads-up match last year, and he continued to test the more experienced Antonius. To make matters worse, Antonius 3-bet with 9♠8♠ in the next hand, only to be forced to fold to an opponent who held K♠4♠.

In another hand, Antonius raised to $1,125,000 on the river with top two pair, extracting maximum value from a small pocket pair. The game took another turn as both players flopped flush draws but missed. Ketola, still 6-high on the river, bet $3,000,000 into the $2,200,000 pot, beating 8-high and winning the pot—another successful huge bluff.

Monarch continued to be aggressive, especially when he had position. Then he hit an absolutely fantastic hand.

Antonius, on the button with K♦9♠, limped pre-flop to $100,000. Ketola, holding Q♥9♥, raised to $350,000 and was called. The flop came Q♠8♥J♥, and Monarch checked, having top pair and a straight flush draw. This induced Monarch to bet $175,000 with a gutshot straight draw. Monarch checked-raised to $525,000, but the raise didn't scare him off. 10♥ completed his straight flush, so he checked again. Antonius turned to a straight but was already drawing dead, betting $625,000, only to be checked-raised again to $1,600,000. Antonius couldn't fold his straight and called. The river was 3♣. Nothing happened. Ketola went all-in with $4.1 million, leaving Antonius in deep thought. Calling would have ended the game, but the poker legend ultimately made the right decision to fold.

In the next hand, Antonius went all-in pre-flop with A♦K♦, gaining a clear lead after Ketola four-bet all-in with K♣J♣ for $4.1 million. However, the turn J♠ turned the weaker hand into a stronger one, ending the game. Antonius lost $10 million, marking the biggest single-game loss in live poker history.

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