Who is Monarch, the Poker Player Who Lost $15,000,000? | PokerNews Podcast #914
Table Of Contents
In the 914th episode of the PokerNews Podcast, Chad Holloway and Mike Holtz are joined by Hayley Hanna (AKA Vegas Hayls), who is fresh off finishing fourth in the 2025 Arizona State Poker Championship. The trio discusses the sudden rise of Monarch, who is Finnish poker pro Ossi Ketola. While at the Onyx Cup in Cyprus, he challenged both Norway's Kayhan Mokri and Dan "Jungleman" Cates to high-stakes heads-up matches, and when all was said and done, Monarch was down eight figures!
From there, they talk about recent tournament winners, including Brandon Mitchell taking down the 2025 Arizona State Poker Championship for $525K, Jennifer Shahade winning the Women's Summer Festival, and both Jesse Lonis and Jeremy Ausmus winning over in Europe.
Other stories covered include the loss of Poker Hall of Famer Jack McClelland, a poker player robbed in Texas, Daniel Negreanu saying a Season 2 for Game of Gold is unlikely, and that goofball Nacho Barbero finishing another sponsorship opportunity.
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Time Stamps
| Time | Topic |
|---|---|
| 00:00 | Welcome to the show |
| 00:15 | Hayley Hanna joins the show |
| 02:12 | Who is Monarch? |
| 07:14 | Seven-figure heads-up matches against Jungleman |
| 11:25 | 2025 Arizona State Poker Championship |
| 18:57 | Hayley’s bustout hand in 4th place |
| 20:10 | Brandon Mitchell wins title for $525K |
| 21:45 | Negreanu’s AMA; no Game of Gold S2? |
| 25:45 | Nacho Barbero finds new sponsorship |
| 27:25 | Texas poker player robbed after big score |
| 30:30 | World Tournament of Slots giveaway |
| 33:52 | Hyundong Lee wins WPT Prime Taiwan Championship |
| 34:23 | PokerStars Ambassador Jennifer Shahade wins Women’s Summer Festival |
| 35:25 | Marcus Dieleman wins Onyx SHRS PLO Championship |
| 35:41 | Daniel Rezaei wins $51K Onyx SHRS Championship |
| 36:00 | Jesse Lonis topples Phil Ivey en route to $1,745,625 payday |
| 38:05 | Jeremy Ausmus banks €318,606 at 2025 PokerStars EPT Barcelona Festival |
| 40:05 | Remembering Jack McClelland |
Tell us who you want to hear from. Let us know what you think of the show — tweet about the podcast using #PNPod, and be sure to follow Chad Holloway on X.
Subscribe to the PokerNews Podcast on Apple Podcasts here! You can also find us on Spotify as well as our new page on SoundCloud!
