Poker After Dark “Rumble with Jungle” Preview

Big name poker pros take to the Las Vegas live felts for three days of premium high stakes action on PokerGO.

Starting this Tuesday afternoon at 5:00pm Pacific Time, our very own Doug Polk will join high stakes poker players Daniel ‘Jungleman’ Cates, Isaac Haxton, Jason Koon, Brian Rast, Frank Kassela, Matt Berkey and Nick Schulman for three days of nosebleed action on Poker After Dark — which will be broadcast exclusively on the PokerGO premium platform.

Rumble with Jungle week will kick off with a $50,000 USD buy-in, six-person Sit & Go tournament with the winner taking home $300,000 followed by two days of No Limit Hold’em cash game action at $300/$600 stakes with a minimum buy-in of $200,000 USD, according to Poker Central. The series is part of a premium live streaming product offered up by poker player and businessman Cary Katz that showcases today’s top poker personalities in what has become an unforgettable year for televised poker.

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PAD “Rumble with Jungle” Player Profiles

Daniel Cates is one of the most established high stakes pros in the poker world, and routinely travels around the globe in search of huge live games that frequently boast pots worth over $1,000,000 USD. An online guru in his own right, Jungleman revealed recently that he can “smell the sims” when playing real money Internet Poker against players who have put in a considerable amount of time with solver software — or who may be using such software in real time to gain an unfair edge.

Jungleman is widely regarded as a player who maintains sound mathematical fundamentals despite also being known for a souring disposition when the cards aren’t going his way. However, that reputation was put to the test last month when the genius-level card player fell under the spell of White Magic Sorcerer, Tower Defense Master and 14-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth — who claimed the inaugural Poker Night King of The Hill heads-up title over Cates in jaw-dropping fashion.

The 27-year old is the unofficial host of “Rumble with Jungle” week on Poker After Dark, and has quickly gained popularity among many casual poker fans following his in-depth YouTube segment with Doug Polk and recent televised poker appearance.

Isaac ‘Hollywood’ Haxton is a bonafide hero to many veteran online poker players. The former Team PokerStars Pro — who resigned in early 2016 after the world’s largest poker site ripped-off millions from its highest volume players — has consistently stood his ground against his previous sponsor. This despite an onslaught of negative press generated by PokerStars executives in an effort to slander the reputations of for-profit players.

The $14 million live poker tournament cash prize winner is featured in one of the best Pokerography episodes on Poker Central, and has a long-standing relationship with poker enthusiasts through his TwoPlusTwo forum contributions and social media posts.

Upswing Poker Lab creator Doug Polk epitomizes the Poker Dream. The DPYourCommunity.org founder — alongside his high profile colleagues — has been largely responsible for renewed vigor in an industry that is still recovering from years of decline following Black Friday. Doug began his poker career online in low-stakes games and steadily progressed to become one of the best heads-up No Limit Hold’em specialists in the world.

A three-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner and reigning High Roller for One Drop champion, Polk has earned a spot among the poker entertainment hierarchy through his sincere outreach to poker fans, quick wit and outgoing personality.

The Twitch Poker live stream MTT record holder, leading YouTube Poker personality and 2015 Brains vs. AI Heads-Up Poker Challenge winner will be making his Poker After Dark debut alongside Jungleman Cates and Hollywood Haxton this week.

Could casino slot machine players and pit game gamblers help spread the game of poker? Former WSOP Player of The Year and three-time bracelet winner Frank Kassela believes so. In a recent podcast segment on the DougPolkPoker YouTube channel, the soon-to-be 50 Chicago resident made a strong case for welcoming-in new personalities from other casino formats in an effort to cross-promote all forms of gambling.

All things told, there do exist poker industry contributors who are aware of high profile slot personalities such as Brent Wolgamott (who covered Vanessa Rousso’s third place Big Brother 17 effort along with podcast host Rob Cesternino), Jackpot King and even Brian ‘sdguy1234’ Templeton — whose epic Award All Rooster Selection has over 200,000 views on YouTube. Templeton hangs out quite a bit with fellow slot lover and Hollywood actor Rex Lee (Ari Gold’s assistant “Lloyd” on Entourage), and there could indeed be opportunities on the horizon for casino-goers of all formats to work together to grow their favorite games.

It will be interesting to see if Kassela’s insights result in newfound collaboration between poker and traditional pit game players. In the meantime, Frank’s fans are looking forward to some Poker After Dark “run good” for the likable personality who got waffle-crushed by a bad run of cards in his KOTH debut two weeks ago.

Jason Koon is a veteran live and online poker player who is approaching $10 million in live event cashes. The Corona-drinking, Garth Brooks-loving poker pro has an amazing personal story which is featured in Poker Central’s Pokerography series that is worth checking out for all PokerGO premium subscribers.

Jason earned $1.65 million this January when he took down the PokerStars Championship Bahamas $100,000 buy-in “Super High Roller” event, but will be looking for redemption this week after bubbling this year’s Super High Roller Bowl just short of the final table.

Brian Rast won the first-ever Super High Roller Bowl back in 2015, besting a field of 43 players in the $500,000 buy-in event and walking away with a $7.5 million USD payday.

The 35-year old Stanford University graduate in currently 10th on The Hendon Mob‘s all-time live tournament money list with over $20 million in career cash prize winnings.

Matt Berkey made headlines last year with a solid performance of his own in the 2016 Super High Roller Bowl, and was featured in a subsequent Poker Central Podcast interview with Poker Media Baron Remko Rinkema.

Matt’s personal story is equally as impressive as his poker playing career, with ups and downs that have become worthwhile experiences as the poker pro has transitioned into a successful businessman. Berkey won the first “Voices Carry” Sit & Go on Poker After Dark just two weeks ago for $150,000 but will be opting for high stakes cash game competition during “Rumble with Jungle” week.

Nick Schulman is recognized by many poker insiders as one of the best play-by-play announcers in the modern era of televised poker. He is also a highly-regarded big money poker player who burst onto the scene in 2005 when he took down the WPT World Poker Finals for over $2,000,000 USD.

Nick has also chosen to forgo Tuesday’s Sit & Go in order to compete in the $300/$600 No Limit Hold’em cash games on Wednesday and Thursday.

Poker After Dark “Rumble with Jungle” Schedule

Join all the “Rumble with Jungle” action live this week as Poker After Dark returns exclusively on PokerGO. Cards will be in the air starting Tuesday at 5:00pm Pacific Time with the live stream beginning shortly afterwards. Get your front row seat by subscribing to PokerGO.com.