Decked out in an amazing outfit lifted straight out of a nineties anime entitled Dragonballz, with bright blue hair and carrying lucky Senzu Beans (reputed to heal wounded characters in Dragonballz), Jungleman crushed souls at this incredibly strong final table to lift the trophy along with the first place prize of $954,000.
Even more remarkably, Daniel Cates came back from a real corner of a spot in which he was seriously likely to bust in third place. During a round of Limit Hold’em in this mixed event, he was down to less than two big blinds on the river and facing a bet from opponent and fearsome player Ryan Leng.
In this crucial spot Cates re-raised (he claimed afterwards for value) on a Ace high board with pocket kings and Leng, holding the top pair, made a huge hero fold. It later emerged that Leng hadn’t realized the raise was for less than a full blind. This turn of fortune ultimately paved the way for Cates’ extraordinary victory in this event.
Cates’ victory does have a feeling of the mystical about it, after he casually predicted his own victory on Day 2, saying afterwards “I said I was gonna win, so I won”. Cates also stated that he wants to use his winnings to help the world. He has a mystical air about him, but also an authentic feel. We believe he’ll really do that.
Image courtesy of PokerGO.com
