Dan 'Jungleman12' Cates, Biggest Winner of 2010, Admits Multi-Accounting

The final large piece of the Jose "Girah" Macedo cheating scandal finally fell Friday when Dan ‘jungleman12’ Cates admitted in an interview with Subject:Poker that while innocent of complicity in Macedo's cheating of fellow high stakes pros, he had multi-accounted on Macedo's account and on friend Haseeb Qureshi's accounts on Merge and iPoker. Cates and Qureshi had promoted, guided, and backed the self-proclaimed Portuguese Prodigy Macedo in his meteoric rise. Unfortunately Cates and Qureshi took many liberties that are now coming to light.

Earlier in the investigation, Qureshi attempted to take the blame and cover up for his close friend Cates, who had much more to lose as one of the top online poker players in the world. Cates was the top online high stakes cash game winner in 2010 with nearly $5 million in winnings on Full Tilt Poker alone and was becoming a fixture in the conversation of world's top players. Cates had appearances on National Heads Up Championship and other televised poker shows as a result.

The admissions of guilt didn't come easily for Cates. When first interviewed by Noah Stephens-Davidowitz and Vanessa Selbst, Cates denied playing on the Macedo's account "Girah" and Qureshi's "samchauhan" and "Toshisan." After the interview, Cates' publicist asked for a follow up interview so Cates could explain what he had lied about and clarify a few other issues.

Cates as an interview subject was disturbing. He seems to have a very subjective ethical standard that shifts constantly with priority for his intentions versus his actions. Cates didn't seem to grasp the gravity of his actions.

One instance of Cates attitude was his approach in handling the fact that he played a former student, named Tyler, under the account and won a fair amount when that player would never have played him if he knew who it was.

When it came out, the two tried to discuss a fair resolution, but Cates comes off as impatient and trying to buy Tyler's silenceSpeculation has been rampant as to Cates' mindset following Black Friday when he had around $6 million locked up on Full Tilt Poker with few playing options. No real excuse can be made for the multi-accounting and poor decisions surrounding the Macedo cheating scandal that will adversely affect his reputation and career in poker, but frustrating for Cates nonetheless.


Read the original Jose "Girah" Macedo cheating story - HERE

Read the follow-up Qureshi story - HERE