The Showdown Episode 11 continues with Dan Cates, otherwise known as jungleman12 in the online poker world.
This is Part 2 of Episode 11. If you haven’t already seen it yet, be sure to watch The Showdown – Episode 11, Part 1. The show is sponsored by UB.com, so if you haven’t signed up for an account, you can do so and make sure to put in the promo code “UBPND” when you do.
The first question asked in this portion of the interview is if Cates considers himself well versed in mixed games. “No, I’m learning mixed games these days. I’m planning on learning them one by one rather than attacking all at the same time. I think this is the most efficient way to get competent in these games,” said Cates.
Cates is well known for constantly reviewing his play and coaching top heads up cash game players. But would jungleman12 ever hire a coach for mixed games? “Well, you can’t just jump in and expect to be good at it so definitely. Having a coach would make the learning process go a lot quicker. So, I’ve actually hired a coach for Stud and Razz and games like that. In addition, going to put in some volume. I imagine watching a lot of videos and hiring a coach would be the best way for just about everyone,” commented Cates.
The next topic is the Durrrr Challenge between him and Tom Dwan. Friedberg brings up the inefficiency of the challenge and how matches are sporadic and sessions varied in terms of time and volume. What has that experience been like and why has it been so spread out? “Well, we both have busy schedules, I’ll say that much,” commented Cates. “I know durrrr doesn’t have a whole lot of incentive to play in it and he just is doing other things and honestly hasn’t been playing online that much at all. So, I’d like to get it done faster and I think it will pick up relatively soon. I’m not happy with the pace of it so far.”
Cates is up just under one million dollars and the two are not even half way through the challenge. If Cates wins the challenge by even $1, he will get $1.5 million from Dwan as part of the challenge’s spoils.
Jungleman12 doesn’t have a sponsorship deal at the moment and does plan to seek some at some point. He wants to get the right sponsorship deal, so he’s going to be patient in getting one.