Daniel “Jungleman12” Cates is taking the online poker world by storm. Only 20 years old, he has already won more money than most people will see in a lifetime. His current winnings exceed $2.2 million.
In early 2008 he was playing heads up No Limit Hold’em with blinds of $.25/$.50. Within 10 months he had gone from micro stakes to high stakes, playing blinds of $25/$50. He admits his move into high stakes was very aggressive, as started playing $25/$50 with 40 Buy-ins. Jungleman12 has said that the two main factors to his success were a very aggressive bankroll management system and the willingness to play anyone.
It was Jungleman12’s openness to play and thirst for knowledge combined with natural talent that have made him soar through the stakes faster than almost any other player online.
One barrier that stops many players moving up in stakes is fear of having so much money on the table in a single seating. Jungleman12 has been able to condition his mind to detach himself from thinking of it as money and seeing it as numbers on a screen. Thanks to this ability he is able to play so objectively in some of the highest games online. Focus on the game, not the money
However his growth wasn’t all smooth sailing. Jungleman12 had one day after moving up to $25/$50 where he lost ¼ of his entire bankroll. It was then he decided to re-evaluate his bankroll strategy.
Another huge setback Jungleman12 had to face was his matches with the famous player “Isildur1”. Jungleman12 has had his biggest losses to Isildur1, including a single day session where he lost almost $500,000.
On the positive side, some of Jungleman12’s best bankroll injections have come from players such as “fullflush1”, “aejones”, Tom “durrrr” Dwan and Phil Ivey, just to name a few. Dwan is currently down over $775,000 to Jungleman12.
Jungleman12 has played the biggest names and stakes at Full Tilt Poker for over two years and has fast become one of the most talked about players in today’s games. He is currently in 3rd place for top earners for 2010, just behind Tom Dwan and Phil Ivey.
When he’s not playing, Jungleman12 can also be found at popular training site Card Runners, where he is one of the featured coaches, charging sometimes over $1000 for a single coaching session. Given his own results, it should be well worth it.