Jungleman Dishes on Game of Gold, Tom Dwan Debts

Life Outside Poker w/ Connor Richards

Life Outside Poker is a new podcast for PokerNews hosted by Connor Richards that seeks to pull back the curtain on poker players and allow viewers and listeners to get to know them on a personal level.

In the 11th episode, Connor speaks with Dan "Jungleman" Cates about accountability in poker, his notorious heads-up challenge with Tom Dwan, Game of Gold, climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, mindfulness in poker and his new podcast Winning the Game of Life.

Cates also talked about his iconic Poker Players Championship outfits and a six-figure downswing he experienced at Bellagio during the summer.

This interview was filmed at the 2024 World Series of Poker (WSOP) inside Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas.

The Life Outside Poker podcast is available on major streaming platforms including Apple Podcasts, Spotify and iHeartRadio. You can also watch the interview with Tyler Todt by heading to the PokerNews YouTube channel.

Be sure to follow Jungleman and Connor Richards on X.

Learn More About Life Outside Poker!

Time Stamps TIME TOPIC 0:00 Intro 0:32 Six-figure downswing at Bellagio 4:54 Going back into teaching 06:44 Accountability in poker 07:52 Creating jobs for poker players 12:06 How to hold players accountable 18:18 Has Tom Dwan paid his debts 21:30 Being one of the best heads-up players 21:54 Getting into poker in college 24:32 Video games 27:11 Winning the PPC back-to-back 31:07 PPC outfits 33:34 Game of Gold 38:08 Starting a podcast 44:37 Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Kailash 49:11 Mindfulness in poker 50:44 What makes you hopeful? 52:32 Advice for younger self 53:16 Life lessons from poker