jungleman12 is 5th on the list of biggest poker winners tracked by HighstakesDB. The data is based on 257232 hands played and his total cash game profits amount to $7,279,175.
Dan “Jungleman12” Cates is a true high stakes poker success story. He started out in the micro stakes in 2008, and rapidly worked his way up the ladder after an explosive career of highs and lows, which includes a brief stint spent working at McDonald’s when his bankroll busted. Cates is an ultra-aggressive player, kind of like Tom Dwan and Isildur1, and he plays stakes ranging anywhere from $0.50/$1 to $300/$600. He has taken on Dwan and Isidlur1 several times, including facing Dwan in the second installment of the Durrrr Challenge (results TBD, although he is demolishing Dwan so far), and playing Blom in the PokerStars SuperStar Showdown (lost $51,196).
Jungleman12 seems to like pretty much all Holdem and Omaha betting structures. He plays FL Holdem, PL and NL Holdem, as well as PLO. Short-handed and heads-up games seem to be his favorites, where his aggression offers him a true edge. By looking at his cash game stats, it’s easy to tell that he is indeed adept at hammering that edge home.
He has used this edge to win millions in profits over the past couple of years. In fact, Cates earned more money than any other online player after hauling in over $5.5 million. His Jungleman12 HighStakesDB chart shows over $7 million in profits from July, 2009 to April, 2011, which makes him one of the biggest online winners of all-time. He also plays under the name “w00ki3z” at PokerStars, although this was mainly used for the SuperStar Showdown game against Isildur1.
As far as tournaments go, Jungleman12 has pretty much stayed away from the live tourney scene, and sticks to his billing as an online cash game pro. However, he does play several online tournaments every month, and has placed fifth in a $124k Turbo Multi-Hundo event ($14,938), in addition to winning quite a few $5,500 + $100 heads-up SNG’s. Of course, these earnings are just pennies compared to his cash game winnings.
Away from the Poker Tables, Cates has gained a lot of attention for his insightful blog posts at CardRunners, where he has also served as an instructor. In addition to this, he has done interviews with numerous poker sites and New York Times Magazine, which earned Cates a little bit of mainstream fame.