Daniel Cates (born November 14, 1989) also known as jungleman12 or w00ki3z. is a professional poker player from the United States, once considered to be one of the best heads-up No Limit

Texas Hold 'em Texas hold 'em (also known as Texas holdem, hold 'em, and holdem) is the most popular variant of the card game of poker. Two cards, known as hole cards, are dealt face down to each player, and then five Community card poker, community cards ...

players in the world. By 2014, his online cash game earnings at

Full Tilt Poker Full Tilt Poker is an Irish online poker card room and online casino that opened in June 2004. Formerly privately owned by Tiltware, LLC and later by the Rational Entertainment Group, the site was acquired by The Stars Group (then known as Amaya ...

and

PokerStars PokerStars is an online poker cardroom. It is the largest real money online poker site in the world, controlling over two-thirds of the total online poker market, and can be accessed through downloadable poker clients for Windows, macOS, Androi ...

was over . In 2010, he won over $5 million, making him the biggest winner for the year.

Personal life

Cates was born and raised in Bowie, Maryland, and began playing poker at the age of 17. He has said that at first he was a big loser and even took a job at McDonald's in order to refuel his bankroll. He describes his childhood as "weird, a bit aloof and mostly spent alone". He spent much of his time playing '' Command and Conquer'' and had an uncontrollable obsession with video games. He studied

Economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

at the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the Univ ...

before dropping out of college to make poker a full-time career.

Poker

Cates began playing

online poker Online poker is the game of poker played over the Internet. It has been partly responsible for a huge increase in the number of poker players worldwide. Christiansen Capital Advisors stated online poker revenues grew from $82.7 million in 2001 t ...

under the screen name "jungleman12" at the $0.25/$0.50 level as well as losing money in his local casino game before employing "reverse game selection" in order to take on and beat the best players at his stakes in heads-up matches before moving up the limits. He went from $0.25/$0.50 to $25/$50 in two years. In 2009, Cates lost most of his bankroll to Viktor Blom at

before rebuilding. In 2010, he began to play higher and higher stakes, racking up victories against many noted pros, including heads-up specialist

Tom Dwan Thomas Dwan Jr. (born July 30, 1986) is an American professional poker player who played online in the highest-stakes No-Limit Texas hold 'em and Pot-Limit Omaha games, primarily on Full Tilt Poker under the screen name "durrrr". Dwan has won p ...

. In August 2010, Cates agreed to take the Durrrr Challenge, playing Dwan at four tables of $200/$400 no limit for 50,000 hands. If Cates should beat Dwan by $1 or more after 50,000 hands, he will win $1.5 million from Dwan. As of April 2011, the two had played 19,335 hands, and Cates was up over a million dollars. On December 31, 2018, Cates called out Dwan publicly on Twitter for his apparent welching. However, Cates also said that Dwan paid out approximately $700,000 in 2017. On August 13, 2015, Cates announced via Twitter that he lost () at a casino in Manila. As of April 2025, his total live tournament winnings exceed $18,000,000.

World Series of Poker

Cates has two

World Series of Poker The World Series of Poker (WSOP) is a series of poker tournaments held annually in Paradise, Nevada, and since 2004, sponsored by Eldorado Resorts, Caesars Entertainment. It dates its origins to 1970, when Benny Binion invited seven of the best ...

bracelets A bracelet is an article of jewellery that is worn around the wrist. Bracelets may serve different uses, such as being worn as an ornament. When worn as ornaments, bracelets may have a supportive function to hold other items of decoration, ...

, both in the Poker Players Championship. He claimed his first bracelet in 2021, after defeating Ryan Leng heads-up. He claimed his second bracelet in 2022, after defeating Yuri Dzivielevski heads-up. He is the first person to win the Poker Players Championship in consecutive years.

Notes

External links

Dan Cates InterviewCard Player profile

Hendon Mob profilePokerNews profileWPT profileWSOP profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cates, Daniel 1989 births Living people American poker players People from Bowie, Maryland University of Maryland, College Park alumni World Series of Poker bracelet winners