{"id":95355,"date":"2026-09-22T11:44:25","date_gmt":"2026-09-22T16:44:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/?p=95355"},"modified":"2026-09-22T11:44:25","modified_gmt":"2026-09-22T16:44:25","slug":"nazi-imagery-nothing-new-for-crypto-casino-behind-orlando-fight-with-swastika-flags-and-hitler-salutes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/nazi-imagery-nothing-new-for-crypto-casino-behind-orlando-fight-with-swastika-flags-and-hitler-salutes\/","title":{"rendered":"Nazi imagery nothing new for crypto casino behind Orlando fight with swastika flags and Hitler salutes"},"content":{"rendered":"

By JOSEPH STRAUSS<\/p>\n

(JTA) \u2014 Nazi salutes. A swastika flag. Fights in the stands. They were all part of the scene at a recent combat sports event in Orlando that pitted an Israeli Jew against an avowed racist with SS bolts tattooed on his chest \u2014 and ended with the latter mocking his defeated foe as \u201ca short little f\u2013king Jew prick.\u201d <\/p>\n

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The Kia Center in Orlando, Florida, hosted a kickboxing match between Paul Miller, who has a Nazi tattoo, and Israeli Ben Azoulay on Aug. 29, 2026. (James Gilbert\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The condemnation that followed the Aug. 29 event was aimed in a number of directions: at Paul Miller, the fighter who performed the Hitler salute after his win; at the attendees who returned the salute and displayed the Nazi flag; and at the Kia Center, the city-owned arena best known as the home of the NBA\u2019s Orlando Magic, which hosted the fight night. <\/p>\n

Politicians were shocked by the display and wrote statements condemning the event \u2014 but the Nazi symbols were nothing new for Duel, the online cryptocurrency casino behind the promotion.<\/p>\n

Founded last year and billing itself as \u201cthe first casino that gives a f\u2013k,\u201d Duel has used Nazi symbols and racist language in its gambling programming. And its owner, Ossi Ketola, a Finnish high-stakes poker player, is himself a self-described First Amendment absolutist with his own history of racially charged comments.<\/p>\n

He celebrated his free speech devotion just one week after the Orlando event, in a social media post featuring a photo of himself with Donald Trump Jr.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/Dc_MAaJqZYZ\/?stkn=eW5qaG5scWc0ZGZz<\/p>\n

One of Duel\u2019s blackjack dealers, Nelli Levonyan, has worn a Nazi outfit with a swastika armband on multiple occasions while dealing cards on the blackjack stream. In a skit from the blackjack table that circulated online, a man, dressed up as an Orthodox Jew and holding an Israeli flag, attacked Levonyan by throwing coins at her. Levonyan\u2019s character then sprayed something at the Jewish man \u2014 \u201cGassing!\u201d he yelled \u2014 and said, \u201cGo away from me, you dirty kike.\u201d <\/p>\n

In another blackjack stream, the dealer imitated one of the two San Diego mosque shooters, who killed five people in May. Levonyan has sung the lyrics to \u201cHeil Hitler,\u201d the Ye (formerly Kanye West) song, during a stream. She has also appeared alongside Miller while hosting the card game.<\/p>\n

Earlier this month, Ketola joined a neo-fascist rally in Helsinki staged by the far-right party Sinimusta Liike, or the Blue-and-Black Movement. Ketola, who was dressed in a Spongebob costume, livestreamed the rally and posted the footage with the title \u201cSaving white Finland.\u201d Speaking about immigrants, he said that people \u201cneed to be educated about how the genes work, and how these people realistically cannot be integrated here.\u201d <\/p>\n

He then attended an anti-fascist rally held elsewhere in Helsinki simultaneously, prompting left-wing demonstrators to chase him and his video crew back to their car. Ketola could be heard off-camera yelling \u201cSieg heil\u201d as they drove away.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat f\u2013king violent pussies. Imagine what f\u2013ing leftists,\u201d Ketola said after taking off the Spongebob costume. \u201cYou see? These right-wing people, white people, the most friendly people. I just walked there, we didn\u2019t say anything, we didn\u2019t do anything \u2014 we go to these leftists and they try to f\u2013ing attack us. F\u2013ing dumb stupid f\u2013ing n\u2013ers.\u201d<\/p>\n

The following night, Ketola attended the dinner with Trump and about a dozen others in Tallinn, Estonia, hosted by Studioworks, a company that develops software for online casino sites. Ketola posted a photo of himself and the U.S. president\u2019s son on Instagram, and wrote that he discussed \u201cDuel, the state of the world and current political climate with him and his staff.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe political situations in our respective countries have become increasingly similar, with a rising tide of violence and radical leftism in both America and Finland,\u201d Ketola wrote. \u201cAs a firm 1st amendment absolutist and an individual with many values that coincide with Republicans and Donald Trump himself, this was a great chance to align on many things important to both.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Nelli Levonyan, left, who has appeared multiple times in a full Nazi uniform on Duel.com\u2019s blackjack live streams, sits alongside Paul \u201cGypsy Crusader\u201d Miller, who often appears online dressed up as the supervillain the Joker. (Screenshot)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Neither the Trump Organization, Miller, Ketola nor Levonyan responded to requests for comment.<\/p>\n

Duel was founded last summer and has featured some prominent personalities on its streams, including boxing great Mike Tyson \u2014 who told Levonyan, \u201cYou dumb b\u2013h, you like Hitler\u201d \u2014 and the \u201clooksmaxxing\u201d influencer Braden Peters, who is known as Clavicular. <\/p>\n

The fight night that it organized and promoted in Orlando was its first foray into combat sports, and made for the company\u2019s biggest splash yet. It also caught the attention of at least one watchdog and a local lawmaker.<\/p>\n

\u201cRight after the event there was a lot of criticism put on the venue, which didn\u2019t have much responsibility in this, and not enough eyes on the people who actually made it happen,\u201d Mark Pitcavage, senior fellow at the Anti-Defamation League\u2019s Center on Extremism, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. (The city had said that, as an operator of public venues, it \u201ccannot deny access because we disagree with the political ideology, opinion or perspective, regardless of the message.\u201d)<\/p>\n

State Rep. Anna Eskamani called for the Florida Athletic Commission to revoke Duel Arena\u2019s license. The commission\u2019s members were appointed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has not commented on the event. The governor\u2019s office did not respond to multiple requests for comment from JTA. <\/p>\n

DeSantis\u2019 immediate predecessor and fellow Republican, U.S. Senator Rick Scott, posted that the event was \u201cutterly disturbing\u201d and that \u201cAntisemitism has NO PLACE in Florida.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pitcavage said that combat sports are \u201ca draw for far-right extremists and white supremacists\u201d who often view themselves as \u201cwhite warriors.\u201d He noted, however, that they make up a small portion of the participants and fans. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not at all surprising that some of them will get into various types of what they would consider manly, or warrior-like athletics,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Duel\u2019s involvement in the Orlando event put the intersection of online gambling sites and far-right ideologies on his radar. \u201cIt\u2019s something we\u2019re starting to look into,\u201d Pitcavage said. He noted that Duel is registered and licensed offshore on the autonomous island of Anjouan, making it more difficult to investigate. <\/p>\n

Eskamani, who is running for mayor of Orlando, told JTA that Duel should not be allowed to operate in Florida, citing reasons that she says would beat the city\u2019s First Amendment defense.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese offshore cryptocurrency \u2014 I mean, there are so many red flags in how this entity is operating that from a purely financial security position for a public venue, I would not want to accept a reservation,\u201d Eskamani said.<\/p>\n

Duel set and promoted the matchups on the fight card, which included the kickboxing match between Miller, who goes by the moniker \u201cGypsy Crusader,\u201d and his fellow influencer Ben \u201cKing\u201d Azoulay. <\/p>\n

Miller, who has made numerous appearances on Duel\u2019s casino games streams, has been known to use racial slurs and denigrate minority groups in his online content. He was convicted in 2021 of felony weapons charges, and sentenced to 41 months in federal prison. He had posted about initiating a race-based civil war.<\/p>\n

During a livestreamed conversation with Adin Ross, a Jewish streamer who has interviewed or maintained friendly relationships with controversial figures including Nick Fuentes and Andrew Tate, Miller said there are no exceptions in his feelings toward Jews.<\/p>\n

\u201cI respect you for having an opinion that is different from the Jews,\u201d Miller told Ross. \u201cBut that doesn\u2019t mean that I would not laugh if I see you in a gas chamber.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

During a Duel.com blackjack table live stream, Levonyan, left, wears a full Nazi uniform and is confronted by a man dressed as a stereotypical Orthodox Jew who is holding an Israeli flag. (Screenshot)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Clips from the Orlando event showed Miller performing the Nazi salute twice after his victory \u2014 something he has done after winning previous fights \u2014 prompting a number of attendees to do the same. One fan brought a Nazi Germany flag and waved it in his seat. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s not a tough guy, he\u2019s not an alpha male. He\u2019s a short little f\u2013ing Jew prick,\u201d Miller declared about his opponent Azoulay in his post-fight interview, eliciting some cheers from the crowd. <\/p>\n

U.S. Rep. Randy Fine, the Jewish Republican firebrand whose district includes Palm Coast and Daytona Beach, posted a video of the Nazi flag being unfurled and wrote, \u201cThis is not a joke and it is not edgy. The guy who did this is old enough to know exactly what that symbol means and to know that it\u2019s not funny. We will make an example out of him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked what he meant by making an example of the attendee, Fine told JTA, \u201cWe put the video out so he would be recognized and be held publicly accountable. Most folks are unwilling to associate with Nazis.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cheering Miller on ringside was Jake Shields, a former mixed martial artist-turned far-right influencer who has espoused conspiracy theories about Jews and Israel. Shields wore a shirt reading \u201cFCK ISRL.\u201d Myron Gaines, a prominent streamer who has spread similar conspiracy theories and performed Nazi salutes, was in the stands, and told Miller before the fight, \u201cYou fight for the goyim,\u201d according to clips shared on social media.<\/p>\n

Pitcavage said he has been tracking a trend of the far-right getting involved in combat sports since the late 1990s, as mixed martial arts and UFC became a more mainstream phenomenon and amateur gyms became widespread and increasingly accessible. <\/p>\n

The ADL has flagged that in recent years \u201cactive clubs,\u201d or \u201clocalized white supremacist crews\u201d that gather for fight training, have become more common. The ADL writes that these groups \u201csee themselves as fighters training for an ongoing war against a system that they claim is deliberately plotting against the white race.\u201d<\/p>\n

As news outlets covered backlash to the Orlando fight night, Duel issued its own statement saying it was horrified \u201cto learn that a group of viewers were displaying symbols of hate at our event.\u201d The company criticized the city\u2019s \u201cshocking remarks that the \u2018First Amendment\u2019 applies and that \u2018free speech\u2019 is permitted at their arena,\u201d and pledged to \u201cwork with local activist groups to push back on this and ensure that this kind of hate does not fester ever again.\u201d<\/p>\n

The statement appeared to be an example of Duel trolling with deadpan, buttoned-up language. Before the fight, Ketola had similarly released a promotional video that appeared to be condemning Miller\u2019s views. \u201cPaul Miller is a Nazi. Being a Nazi is bad,\u201d Ketola narrated, over footage of him shaking his head. \u201cWe cannot support this. The only reason we are allowing him to fight is to ensure the good guys get to add another victory to their record.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then, after Miller\u2019s win, Duel\u2019s Instagram account left a comment that told a different story.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe good guys won,\u201d Duel wrote.<\/p>\n

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