Playing in a huge invitational poker cash game during the Triton Poker Series Montenegro, Dan ‘Jungleman’ Cates and Tan Xuan get involved in a massive pot. But has he lost his mind in this $1,500,000 pot? Xuan must decide whether to unload the clip with a triple barrel bluff. The problem is that Cates holds the stone cold nuts. Will Xuan make the wrong decision and punt it off into Cates, or will he give up on the bluff and save himself almost $750,000?
When playing poker tournaments or cash games, it is important to protect your calling range. This means that when you call a bet, raise, or check-raise, your range should not only consist of draws or medium-strength hands. You should occasionally have very strong hands, including the nuts, in your calling range. By doing this, you make it much harder for your opponents to exploit you, as they cannot be sure whether your call represents a draw, a marginal hand, or a monster.
Dan Cates, also known as Jungleman and w00ki3z, is a 34-year-old from the USA and is regarded by many as one of the best poker players in the world both online and live. He has played in all the high stakes poker cash games around the world for many years. He has over $18,800,000 in live poker tournament earnings, putting him in the top 100 on the all-time money list. He famously won the World Series of Poker (WSOP) $50,000 Players Championship (regarded as one of the hardest poker tournaments to win) in 2021 and again in 2022. Since 2012, Cates has played over 89 live streamed cash games and has won more than $14,400,000. Cates has won the most in history on live streamed poker gash games.
Tan Xuan is a Chinese businessman from Wuhan. Xuan has won over $12,300,000 in live poker tournament earnings, putting him in the top 150 on poker’s all time money list. His biggest score of $2,308,384 came during the 2018 Triton Poker Super High Roller Series Montenegro, where he finished second in the HK$1,000,000 No Limit Hold’em – Short Deck Ante Only tournament. Since 2018, Since 2018 Xuan has played on over 77 live streamed poker cash games and has lost over $7,700,000.
Triton Poker was founded in 2015 by Paul Phua and Richard Yong; their aim was to attract a healthy mixture of recreational poker players and seasoned poker professionals. Part of what makes the Triton Series so special is that it’s open to a wide range of poker players – not just a select few. They envisioned Triton as a series of poker events providing excellent entertainment value for audiences passionate about poker. Some of the most famous poker players to have appeared at Triton events have been Phil Ivey ‘RaiseOnce’, Tom Dwan ‘Durrr’, Patrick Antonius ‘The Finn’, Michael Addamo ‘imluckbox’, Chris Brewer, Jason Koon ‘JAKoon1985’, Tony G, Dan Cates ‘Jungleman’, Doug Polk ‘WCGRider’, Stephen Chidwick ‘stevie444’, Linus Loeliger ‘LLinusLLove’, Isaac Haxton ‘philivey2694’, Mikita Badziakouski ‘fish2013’, Timofey Kuznetsov ‘Trueteller’ and many more.
🔍 Preflop:
With the $4,000 straddle on, Paul Phua raises from early position with pocket sevens to $10,000. Tan Xuan calls from the button holding 98 of hearts and Dan Cates defends KQo from the under the gun straddle.
💸 Flop – Ac Jd 3s:
Cates is first to act and checks his gutshot straight draw to broadway. Phua, with his two hockey sticks, opts not to continuation bet and checks. Xuan’s suited connector has flopped terribly as he just has a backdraw straight draw. He bets $17,000 as a bluff and only Cates calls from out of position.
💣 Turn – Ts:
Heads-up to the ten of spades turn, which helps improve Cates to the nuts with a broadway straight. Cates checks for a second time and Xuan, who despite picking up an open ended straight draw, is drawing dead. Xuan doesn’t know this as he chooses to fire a second barrel for $35,000. Cates takes the most aggressive option available to him by check raising to $125,000. Xuan doesn’t believe the story Cates is telling, so he decides to 3-bet to $325,000. Cates sets the trap by just calling and the two poker players head to a river.
🌊 River – 6h:
Nothing changes on the six of hearts river, and Cates checks the action over to Xuan. With just nine-high, will Xuan shove all in or will he check behind and give up on his bluff? Stay tuned to the end of this poker video to see what happens!
Jonathan Little analyzes live poker hands from TV poker shows such as Poker After Dark, Hustler Casino Live, The Lodge Poker Club & PokerGO. He also analyzes popular poker vloggers such as Rampage Poker, Brad Owen, Jaman Burton, Ashley Sleeth, Wolfgang Poker and others!
You will also find many poker hands on this channel that contain some of the biggest names in the poker world such as; Daniel Negreanu, Phil Hellmuth, Phil Ivey, Doug Polk, Garrett Adelstein, Tom ‘Durrrr’ Dwan, Dan ‘Jungleman’ Cates, Fedor Holz & many more!
