Dan ‘Jungleman’ Cates may not be the fastest player around, but he’s proven time and time again he’s one of the toughest opponents you can see sitting across from you at the table.
He’s proven this once again during a recent high-stakes game hosted by the Hustler Casino Live, where he took on Yoh Viral with the worst hand in all of poker – seven-duce off-suite.
For some context, the 7-2 game was on, with every player at the table paying a $1,000 bounty to anyone who takes down the pot with it. Yoh Viral also had an added incentive to try and win the hand, as this would be his third pot in a row, awarding him a $2,000 bounty from each player.
Stakes are $200/$400 with a $00 big blind ante. Rob Yong posted the $800 straddle. Jungleman is the effective stack, starting the hand with $108,300 in front of him.
Preflop Action
Yoh Viral starts the action with A♥3♦, raising to $4,400. Jungleman is in the big blind with the old 7♣2♦, and he 3-bets to $15,000.
Rob Yong gets out of the way and the action is back to Yoh Viral, who makes the call, and they proceed to the flop heads up, with $31,400 in the middle.
Preflop Play Analysis
This hand is a bit off the rails from the get-go, as the two players forcing the issue both have additional incentives to try and win the hand as quickly as possible, preferably without seeing the flop.
In that sense, Yoh Viral making it almost 5x the straddle makes sense, as he’d love to see everyone just fold, and he picks up an extra $8,000 for winning three hands in a row.
Cates, too, has a hand that he wants to win with quickly, as it would net him $4,000 worth of bounties in addition to the pot. Plus, he’s aware that Viral really wants to win this hand, and his opening size is certainly somewhat suspicious.
After Cates puts in a 3-bet, Yoh Viral is probably best off folding, as A-3 off-suit isn’t the kind of hand you want to play in a bloated pot and against one of the best players out there.
If he really wants to go after that bounty, he can try with a 4-bet to get rid of Jungleman’s bluffs and at least have the initiative in the hand.
As is, though, he decides to make the call in position and see the flop, setting the stage for one of the sickest hands we’ve seen in a while.
Flop Action
The flop comes K♠7♠3♥, giving both players a small piece. Jungle has a second pair and no kicker, while Yoh Viral flopped a bottom pair with an ace kicker.
Cates continues for a small bet of $10,000, as he would with his entire range on this board texture. Yoh Viral calls, and the pot grows to $51,400.
Flop Play Analysis
The flop action in this hand is fairly standard. Jungleman continuation bets for about one third of the pot, which is a standard sizing in a 3-bet pot these days on a texture containing a high card.
This is not a comfortable spot for Viral, but he caught a small piece, and facing a small bet, and with the added bounty still in the air, he can’t give up just yet.
Turn Action
The turn brings the Q♠, changing the board quite a bit, as it now reads K♠7♠3♥Q♠. After giving it some thought, Cates decides to pull the brakes and checks.
His opponent takes a few moments to think about his options but ends up checking back, so there are no changes to the pot size, as it remains at $51,400.
Turn Play Analysis
After Yoh Viral calls the flop bet and the turn completes the spade flush draw, Cates decides to exercise some caution, which makes sense.
Other than a few random hands, Yoh Viral’s range mostly consists of hands containing a king and flush draws, which have now been completed.
This is an opening for Yoh Viral, as Cates will rarely check here with a strong hand. If he fires now, even if Jungleman calls, he’ll have a hard time calling another bet on most rivers.
However, he passes on the opportunity to take control of the betting and checks back instead, leaving things to the river.
River Action
Things get more complicated on the river as it comes the 10♠, with the final board reading K♠7♠3♥Q♠10♠.
Jungleman checks once again. Yoh Viral now takes some time before firing out a massive, almost pot-sized bet of $49,000.
Although it looked like Cates was done with the hand, this huge bet piques his interest and he spends the next few minutes trying to figure out what hands his opponent could take this line with. After a while, he tosses in the calling chips to win the $149,400 pot.
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River Play Analysis
When Jungleman eventually decides to check on the river, it seems clear he’s done with the hand and ready to go to a showdown and be shown a stronger hand than a measly pair of sevens. Sometimes, you just have to give up.
Yoh Viral understands that his bottom pair is not going to win on this rundown, and this is his last opportunity to take a swing at the pot. Betting big makes sense, as he would do this with all his strongest poker hands.
Back to Jungleman, and instead of mucking his cards, he suddenly springs back to life. A huge bet from his opponent means one of two things: he really has the nut flush or maybe a Jack-high flush, or he’s doing this with pretty much nothing.
If Yoh Viral had the A♠, he’d probably take an opportunity to start betting on the turn and win the pot right then and there. If he was on a flush draw and made his flush on the turn, he’d likely bet with that hand as well.
Even with all the analysis, this is a very difficult call to make, as his opponent could still have some hands he’s decided to turn into bluff on the river that beat his pair of sevens. It’s hard to say how mathematically sound Jungleman’s river call is, but it’s certainly one of the sickest we’ve seen in a while!
