# Daniel Cates

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American poker player (born 1989)

Daniel Cates Cates in 2018 Nickname(s) Jungleman jungleman12 w00ki3z. Born (1989-11-14) November 14, 1989 (age 36) Bowie, Maryland, U.S. World Series of Poker Bracelets 2 Money finishes 4 Highest WSOP Main Event finish 775th, 2015 World Poker Tour Titles 2 Final table 2 Money finishes 2 European Poker Tour Title 1 Final tables 3 Money finishes 3 Information last updated on 1 July 2022.

**Daniel Cates** (born November 14, 1989)[1] also known as **Jungleman**, **jungleman12** or **w00ki3z.** is a professional poker player from the United States, once considered to be one of the best [heads-up](/source/Heads_up_poker) No Limit [Texas Hold 'em](/source/Texas_Hold_'em) players in the world.[2] By 2014, his online cash game earnings at [Full Tilt Poker](/source/Full_Tilt_Poker) and [PokerStars](/source/PokerStars) was over US$11 million. In 2010, he won over $5 million, making him the biggest winner for the year.[3]

## Early life

Cates was born and raised in [Bowie](/source/Bowie%2C_Maryland), 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](/source/Command_and_Conquer)* and had an uncontrollable obsession with video games.[1] He studied [Economics](/source/Economics) at the [University of Maryland](/source/University_of_Maryland) before dropping out of college to make poker a full-time career.[4][5]

## Poker

Cates began playing [online poker](/source/Online_poker) 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.[6]

In 2009, Cates lost most of his bankroll to [Viktor Blom](/source/Viktor_Blom) at [Full Tilt Poker](/source/Full_Tilt_Poker) before rebuilding.[7] In 2010, he began to play higher and higher stakes, racking up victories against many noted pros, including heads-up specialist [Tom Dwan](/source/Tom_Dwan). 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.[8] 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.[9]

On August 13, 2015, Cates announced via Twitter that he lost HK$38 million (US$5 million) at a casino in Manila.[10]

As of April 2025, his total live tournament winnings exceed $18,000,000.[11]

### World Series of Poker

Cates has two [World Series of Poker](/source/World_Series_of_Poker) [bracelets](/source/World_Series_of_Poker_bracelet), both in the [Poker Players Championship](/source/The_Poker_Players_Championship). He claimed his first bracelet in 2021, after defeating Ryan Leng heads-up.[12] He claimed his second bracelet in 2022, after defeating Yuri Dzivielevski heads-up.[13] He is the first person to win the Poker Players Championship in consecutive years.[13]

World Series of Poker bracelets Year Tournament Prize (US$) 2021 $50,000 Poker Players Championship 6-Handed $954,020 2022 $50,000 Poker Players Championship 6-Handed $1,449,103

## Notes

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-NYTimes_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-NYTimes_1-1) [Kang, Jay Caspian](/source/Jay_Caspian_Kang) (March 25, 2011). ["Online Poker's Big Winner"](https://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/27/magazine/mag-27Poker-t.html). *[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)*. Retrieved December 6, 2023.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ["A Poker Life -Daniel "jungleman12" Cates"](http://www.cardplayer.com/poker-news/9744-a-poker-life-daniel-jungleman12-cates). CardPlayer.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["Poker player profile: jungleman12"](https://web.archive.org/web/20101123192316/http://highstakesdb.com/profiles/jungleman12.aspx). High Stakes DB. Archived from the original on November 23, 2010. Retrieved April 6, 2011.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** ["Who is jungleman12? That guy in the well"](http://www.bluffeurope.com/poker-news/en/online-poker-news/Who-is-jungleman12-That-guy-in-the-well_7438.aspx). Bluff Europe.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Maese, Rick (May 2, 2023). ["How to win at cards and life, according to poker's autistic superstar"](https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2023/05/02/jungleman-poker-dan-cates-autisic/). *Washington Post*. [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [0190-8286](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0190-8286). Retrieved May 3, 2023.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** ["Daniel "Jungleman12" Cates >> Bluff Europe"](http://www.bluffeurope.com/interview/en/Daniel-Jungleman12-Cates_10232.aspx). Bluff Europe.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** ["JUNGLEMAN WELL - Two Plus Two forums"](http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/58/heads-up-nl/jungleman-well-777086/). Two Plus Two poker forums.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** ["Durrrr vs. Jungleman12 - Full Tilt Poker"](https://web.archive.org/web/20110403005737/http://www.fulltiltpoker.com/durrrr-vs-jungleman12). Full Tilt Poker. Archived from [the original](http://www.fulltiltpoker.com/durrrr-vs-jungleman12) on April 3, 2011.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** ["'Jungleman' Daniel Cates Calls Out Tom Dwan for 'Durrrr Challenge'"](https://www.cardschat.com/news/jungleman-daniel-cates-tom-dwan-75957). December 31, 2018.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** Daniel Cates [@junglemandan] (August 13, 2015). ["Sooo manila didn't go well, only lost about 38m hkd(5m usd)... Gonna play some 5/10 online and take another shot"](https://twitter.com/junglemandan/status/631919090106531840) ([Tweet](/source/Tweet_(social_media))) – via [Twitter](/source/Twitter).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** ["Daniel Cates' profile on The Hendon Mob"](https://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/player.php?a=r&n=147438). *The Hendon Mob Poker Database*. Retrieved December 6, 2023.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-12)** O'Hair, Dan (November 6, 2021). ["Dan Cates is The Newest Poker Players Champion"](https://www.pokernews.com/tours/wsop/2021-wsop/event-60-50000-poker-players-championship/chips.460070.htm). *PokerNews*. Retrieved March 25, 2024.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-History_13-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-History_13-1) ["Dan Cates Makes History; Wins Back-to-Back $50,000 Poker Players Championship ($1,449,103)"](https://www.pokernews.com/tours/wsop/2022-wsop/event-56-50000-poker-players-championship/chips.508846.htm). *PokerNews.com*. July 1, 2022. Retrieved April 3, 2024.

## External links

- [Dan Cates Interview](https://cardplayerlifestyle.com/poker-lifestyle/interview-dan-cates-jungleman/)

- [Card Player profile](https://www.cardplayer.com/poker-players/160340-daniel-cates)

- [Hendon Mob profile](http://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/player.php?a=r&n=147438)

- [PokerNews profile](https://www.pokernews.com/poker-players/dan-cates/)

- [WPT profile](https://www.worldpokertour.com/player/daniel-cates/)

- [WSOP profile](https://www.wsop.com/players/profile/?playerid=113941)

- [Daniel Cates](https://x.com/junglemandan) on [X](/source/X_(social_network))

v t e 2020s WSOP bracelet winners 2020/ 2020 O Kristen Bicknell Tony Dunst Daniel Dvoress Michael Gathy Alan Goehring Juha Helppi Fedor Holz Joe McKeehen David Peters Roberto Romanello Brad Ruben Damian Salas 2021/ 2021 O/ 2021 E Michael Addamo (2) Koray Aldemir Josh Arieh (2) Jeremy Ausmus (2) Mikita Badziakouski David "Bakes" Baker Farzad Bonyadi Yuval Bronshtein Daniel Cates Shaun Deeb Adam Friedman Benny Glaser Brian Hastings Phil Hellmuth Jason Koon Chance Kornuth Leo Margets Adrián Mateos John Monnette Chris Moorman David Peters Bryan Piccioli Shankar Pillai Brian Rast Brad Ruben (2) Ole Schemion Erik Seidel Brian Yoon Ben Yu Anthony Zinno (2) 2022/ 2022 O/ 2022 E Steve Albini Brian Altman Jeremy Ausmus (2) Pedro Bromfman Daniel Cates Eli Elezra Ali Eslami Amnon Filippi Alex Foxen Adam Friedman Brian Hastings Hong Jin-ho Phil Hui Espen Jørstad (2) Alex Livingston David Peters Brad Ruben Jake Schindler Scott Seiver Dan Smith Michael Wang Daniel Weinman Daniel Zack (2) 2023/ 2023 O/ 2023 E/ 2023 P Josh Arieh (2) Jeremy Ausmus David "ODB" Baker Chris Brewer Shaun Deeb Daniel Dvoress Yuri Dzivielevski (2) Kristen Foxen Benny Glaser Mike Gorodinsky Isaac Haxton Phil Hellmuth Ryan Hughes Faraz Jaka Alex Keating Ben Lamb Toby Lewis Tom Marchese Ian Matakis Jason Mercier John Monnette Brian Rast Nick Schulman Erik Seidel Shannon Shorr (2) Daniel Weinman Brian Yoon 2024/ 2024 O/ 2024 E/ 2024 P Calvin Anderson Richard Ashby Tony Dunst Yuri Dzivielevski John Hennigan Phil Hui Phil Ivey Bryn Kenney Maria Konnikova Chance Kornuth Alex Livingston Michael Mizrachi Robert Mizrachi Daniel Negreanu James Obst John Racener Dario Sammartino Nick Schulman Scott Seiver (3) Jonathan Tamayo Mike Watson 2025 David "ODB" Baker Michael Banducci Shaun Deeb Darren Elias Benny Glaser (3) Mike Gorodinsky Dan Heimiller Ian Johns Cary Katz Rainer Kempe Jason Koon Jonathan Little Adrián Mateos Michael Mizrachi (2) John Racener Brian Rast Brad Ruben Nick Schulman Michael Wang Daniel Zack 2026 Calvin Anderson (2) Scott Clements Shaun Deeb Yuri Dzivielevski Alex Foxen Kristen Foxen Benny Glaser Marco Johnson Jeff Madsen Adrián Mateos Michael Mizrachi Nick Schulman 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s

v t e Winners of the World Series of Poker $50,000 The Poker Players Championship 2006: David "Chip" Reese 2007: Freddy Deeb 2008: Scotty Nguyen 2009: David Bach 2010: Michael Mizrachi 2011: Brian Rast 2012: Michael Mizrachi 2013: Matthew Ashton 2014: John Hennigan 2015: Mike Gorodinsky 2016: Brian Rast 2017: Elior Sion 2018: Michael Mizrachi 2019: Phil Hui 2021: Daniel Cates 2022: Daniel Cates 2023: Brian Rast 2024: Daniel Negreanu 2025: Michael Mizrachi

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Daniel Cates](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Cates) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Cates?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.