Ossi “Monarch” Ketola will play heads-up on Triton's stream again in Jeju and North Cyprus, this time as sponsor. Triton Poker Series named his casino Duel.com official sponsor of both on 2 September. Jeju runs 4 to 17 September and North Cyprus 15 to 30 November, closing Triton's tenth year.
The logo is the announcement. The heads-up clause is the story. Triton's release promises “a number of high-stakes Duel Heads Up clashes” between Ketola and selected regulars, streamed only on Triton's channels, and Ketola's record of nosebleed heads-up matches is why that line outweighs the branding.
In September 2025 he played five opponents at the same Jeju venue and won the largest pot ever played on a stream, $12,700,000 against Bjorn Li. Those sessions were arranged night by night. This time the matches are written into a partnership, with Triton's CEO calling Duel “our new sponsors”.
What the Triton Duel Sponsorship Covers
The Triton announcement covers two festivals and nothing in between. Duel takes official sponsor status for the 14-event Jeju stop at LES A Casino, Shinhwa World, and for North Cyprus at Merit Casino in November.
| Stop | Dates | Venue | Landmark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jeju, South Korea | 4 to 17 September 2026 | LES A Casino, Shinhwa World | $200,000 Triton Invitational, first time in Asia |
| North Cyprus | 15 to 30 November 2026 | Merit Casino | 300th Triton Super High Roller Series tournament |
The Invitational is Triton's invitee format, recreational players seated with pros from a split Day 1, and Jeju is its first running in Asia. North Cyprus gets the round number: the 300th tournament since the series began in 2016.
Andy Wong, CEO of Triton Poker Series, kept his own comment short.
“We're delighted to announce Duel as our new sponsors for the exciting events in Jeju and Cyprus, and look forward to seeing Ossi in heads-up action once again.” – Andy Wong
Duel's side came from an unnamed spokesperson, who called Triton “the gold standard” and the tie-up a natural match. The company describes itself as a casino and sportsbook built on a “Zero Edge” model, a net-zero house edge on its Originals games with provably fair systems. Those are Duel's terms.
Why Ketola Is the Story, Not the Logo
Nobody in poker needed Duel's boilerplate to know who Ketola is. His September 2025 week in Jeju produced two record pots inside four days and, by our count of the published stakes, more than $63,000,000 in heads-up buy-ins across five opponents.
| Opponent | Date | What is verified |
|---|---|---|
| Wiktor Malinowski | September 2025 | Played; full account on the Ketola profile |
| Alex Foxen | 15 September 2025 | $10,990,000 pot, then the largest ever streamed |
| Elias Talvitie | September 2025 | Played; full account on the Ketola profile |
| Kayhan Mokri | September 2025 | Played; full account on the Ketola profile |
| Bjorn Li | 19 September 2025 | $12,700,000 pot, the current record; Li won the $2,000,000 series 3 to 1 |
The first record fell on 15 September against Alex Foxen, a $10,990,000 pot that stood for four days. Alex Foxen's high roller career made him the best-known opponent of the five, and the hand they built was the first eight-figure pot ever streamed.
The bigger one came against Bjorn Li on 19 September. Li had won their $2,000,000 matches three to one, so the pair agreed an $8,000,000-a-side rematch, and the $12,700,000 hand that decided it went to Ketola with nines against eights.
The list of opponents doubles as a list of likely returnees. Kayhan Mokri's Triton Invitational title came at $250,000, the buy-in the event carried before this Jeju edition, and all five are the kind of Triton regulars the release says Duel Heads Up will draw from.
The release names no opponents and no stakes for the matches, the same vacuum Ketola played into in 2025. The difference is that Triton's CEO has now said in writing that he expects the matches, and the audience arrives knowing the number to beat.
The Season 5 Sponsor Stack
Duel is the second sponsor Triton named in two days for the same two festivals. On 1 September, Titi Poker signed as exclusive online poker sponsor for the remainder of Season 5, and its $25,000 Titi Poker NLH is the 6 to 8 September event on the Jeju schedule.
Read together, the two announcements split the stops by category. Titi Poker owns the online poker slot, Duel owns the casino and sportsbook slot, and Triton's release calls Duel the official sponsor rather than a title sponsor.
| Sponsor | Role | Stop |
|---|---|---|
| Duel.com | Official sponsor, plus Duel Heads Up matches | Jeju and North Cyprus |
| Titi Poker | Exclusive online poker sponsor | Jeju and North Cyprus |
| CoinPoker | Festival sponsor | Montenegro, May 2026 |
| QQPK | Title sponsor and qualifier route | Triton ONE |
The pattern is a tour selling its two remaining 2026 festivals slot by slot, one brand per vertical. CoinPoker had the Montenegro stop in May and QQPK owns Triton ONE. The year's final two stops now have their online poker and casino partners in place before the Invitational begins.
Three Milestones Wrapped Into the Same Two Festivals
The Duel deal attaches its name to three numbers Triton has been building towards all year.
| Milestone | Where | When |
|---|---|---|
| $2 billion in cumulative prize money | Jeju | Expected during the festival |
| $200,000 Triton Invitational, first time in Asia | Jeju | From 12 September, per the published schedule |
| 300th Super High Roller Series tournament | North Cyprus | November |
For context, Triton's own 2024 wrap-up reported that the tour had passed $1 billion in total prize money by the end of that year. The first billion took more than eight years. The second is arriving in under two.
What the $2 billion is: Triton's total prize money awarded since 2016, not the prize pool of this festival. The figure is Triton's own projection, and the tour has not yet published the date it expects to cross it.
The festival is already running. Alex Theologis won the $15,000 opener for $642,000 from 206 entries and Klemens Roiter took the $20,000 event for $771,000, and our full Triton Poker Series guide carries the schedule, records and how-to-watch detail for the rest of the stop.
The $150,000 10th Anniversary Special returns later in the festival too. Paul Phua's anniversary special win in March set the mark at $3,226,000 for the September edition.
What to Watch For
Triton has published no dates, opponents or stakes for the Duel Heads Up matches. That leaves three open questions for the rest of Jeju and for North Cyprus.
- Who sits down: whether any of the five 2025 opponents return, or whether Triton brings in new names for the sponsored format.
- What the stakes are: the 2025 matches ran from $2,000,000 to $8,000,000 a side. A sponsored series on Triton's own stream may set its own ceiling.
- Where it streams: Triton's channels only, per the release. That means Triton's YouTube channel and its Twitch feed, both free.
North Cyprus in November closes Triton's tenth year with the 300th tournament, and the same sponsorship runs through it. Until then, every Jeju payout as it lands is tracked on our results page.
