Dan Cates

Daniel Cates was born on November 14, 1989, in Bowie, Maryland. He began playing poker at age 17, initially losing money and even working at McDonald's to rebuild his bankroll. He studied economics at the University of Maryland before dropping out to pursue poker full-time. Cates has described his childhood as "weird, a bit aloof and mostly spent alone," with an obsession for video games like Command and Conquer.

Cates started playing online poker under the screen name "jungleman12" at $0.25/$0.50 stakes, using "reverse game selection" to challenge and beat the best players at his limits. Within two years, he moved up to $25/$50. By 2014, his online cash game earnings at Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars exceeded $11 million. In 2010, he was the biggest winner in online poker, earning over $5 million.

His most famous online feat is the Durrrr Challenge against Tom Dwan. In August 2010, Cates agreed to play Dwan heads-up at $200/$400 no-limit hold'em for 50,000 hands, with a $1.5 million bonus if he led after the challenge. After 19,335 hands, Cates was up over $1.2 million, and Dwan reportedly paid him approximately $700,000 in 2017. Cates publicly called out Dwan in 2018 for not completing the challenge.

Cates has won two World Series of Poker bracelets, both in the $50,000 Poker Players Championship (PPC) 6-Handed event. He won his first in 2021 for $954,020, defeating Ryan Leng heads-up. In 2022, he won back-to-back PPC titles, beating Yuri Dzivielevski for $1,449,103 while dressed as WWE's Macho Man Randy Savage. He is the first player to win the PPC in consecutive years. His total live tournament winnings exceed $18 million as of April 2025.

Beyond the WSOP, Cates has two World Poker Tour titles and one European Poker Tour title. In August 2025, he played in the largest televised poker game in history, a series of winner-takes-all heads-up matches against Ossi Ketola, winning $15 million in a single day.

Cates is known for playing the highest stakes both online and live. In 2015, he admitted to losing HK$38 million (US$5 million) at a Manila casino. He also participated in the first season of online poker's Game of Gold, a reality poker competition. In 2023, he finished 2nd in the Triton $100,000 No Limit Hold'em Main Event for $3,528,000. Cates has multiple cashes in high-roller events, including the Super MILLION$ on online poker.

Cates is celebrated for his mathematical approach and aggressive, heads-up expertise. He blends GTO (Game Theory Optimal) strategies with exploitative adjustments, especially in deep-stack situations. Known as "Jungleman," he has a reputation for being quiet off the table but fiercely competitive on it. He was also involved in a multi-accounting scandal in 2020 on a free-to-play app, which he publicly acknowledged and condemned. Cates has been open about being autistic, as highlighted in a Washington Post profile.

In 2021, Cates became an ambassador for the training site Run It Once. He continues to be a prominent figure in high-stakes poker, inspiring a new generation of players with his analytical style and success across formats. His back-to-back WSOP PPC wins and huge heads-up victories solidify his legacy as one of the most accomplished players of his era.