Deputy Editor
Former fighter and accused rapist Andrew ‘Cobra’ Tate appears to be promoting Duel, the online casino owned by high-stakes poker player Ossi ‘Monarch’ Ketola, based on a link posted by Tate and a page on Duel’s site. Although no formal announcement has been made, the deal would seem to bring together two of the internet’s most controversial figures.
Tate has consistently stirred controversy in recent years with caustic remarks, especially about women. Prosecutors in multiple nations have charged him with crimes that include rape and sex trafficking.
Ketola does not have any outstanding warrants against him, but has nonetheless become a highly divisive figure in the poker community. While viewers have enjoyed the theater of his high-stakes poker matches, he has turned much of the community off with his consistent use of racial slurs. He seemingly made a fortune running a betting site, CSGOEmpire, whose currency was gaming “skins” that have real-world value. He’s said to have harassed and threatened streamers who supported rival CSGORoll, one of whom recently had firebombs lobbed at his home. Norwegian police are reportedly investigating for a possible connection, according to local outlet HA Halden.
Both men have similar target demographics. They’ve cultivated followings of mainly young, impressionable men and teenage boys. They sell them on the idea that they need to band together and fight back against perceived disenfranchisement.
Monarch peddles the notion that all online gaming and gambling systems have been rigged against them — except his own. His new product, Duel, is presented as a “provably fair” casino offering “zero-edge” games. Tate, for his part, pushes the so-called “red pill” narrative that society favors women and conspires against men. He sells an exaggerated version of masculinity, telling followers he can show them how to retake control of their lives and their environments.
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Tate and Ketola Make a Natural Fit
Ketola describes his fans as a “cult,” a term that seems to fit Tate’s following in a similarly figurative way. In that sense, and their mutual embrace of controversy and politically unpopular stances, the pairing of Ketola and Tate looks like a natural one. Ketola is looking to market his online casino to a particular subset of gamblers, and Tate has an army of potential customers at the ready, intersecting heavily in their interests with Ketola’s base.
Their seeming shared expertise at stirring up viral controversy may have also helped the two establish a business rapport.
Tate has built a following of more than 10 million on social media by marketing himself as a sort of counter-progressive figure. The former pro kickboxer espouses a hyper-masculine mindset and lifestyle while railing against basic concepts like gender equality. His views have led multiple social media platforms to variously ban, suspend, and occasionally reinstate him.
Monarch is no stranger to such bans, having recently incurred the wrath of Twitter. Naturally, he framed the ban as the establishment conspiring against his radical re-imagining of the online gambling industry.
If Tate’s rhetoric wasn’t dangerous enough, his actions have potentially more serious consequences hanging over him. Authorities in the U.K. and Romania have charged Tate with rape, human trafficking, and prostitution, among other crimes. Tate has lived and worked in both countries in recent years. The U.K. charges were levied this May, but no update has been provided for months.
If the Tate-Ketola pairing seems obvious in terms of audience overlap, it’s antithetical to at least some of Tate’s bluster. Several social media followers jeered his post shilling Duel. They pointed out that it flies in the face of Tate’s professed devotion to Islam, which forbids gambling.
Polk Latest Top Pro to Clean Monarch Out
As for Monarch, he has continued busying himself with a different sort of duel. He lost yet another high-stakes poker match on Monday, this time for $1.2 million to Doug Polk.
Polk had floated the idea of playing Monarch via social media during the fervor around Ketola’s prior matches. After months, it came to fruition.
The two battled it out in a series of matches on ClubWPT Gold, the former sweepstakes poker site endorsed by Polk. Except for being online rather than live, the format was identical to the matches Ketola had played previously against the likes of Dan ‘Jungleman’ Cates and Alex Foxen, among others. Each player started with 100 blinds, and no reloading was allowed.
Polk won two of three initial matches for $400,000 apiece, leaving him a winner of that same amount. Also, much like Monarch’s other matches, he martingaled, and Polk accepted. They doubled the stakes for a final match, playing for $800,000 apiece. Polk won once again, cracking pocket aces on the final hand with a rivered flush.
That left Polk up $1.2 million, which he called “the biggest cash game win” of his career.
