Jungleman and Milkybarkid in Heads-Up Grudge Match
Wednesday, 31 July 2013
by Eve Goodman
Dan ‘Jungleman’ Cates has never been one to bite his tongue when he feels there’s something to be said, and the last week has been no exception. This time the outspoken pro has only got one person in his sights – and that person is none other than online wizard Ben ‘Milkybarkid’ Grundy.
Last week saw fireworks go off within the high-stakes elite when the multi-accounting scandal hit the 2+2 forums. The thread, containing an explosive debate that currently shows no signs of slowing down, features the opinions of numerous big name pros such as Tom ‘durrrr’ Dwan, Ben ‘Sauce123’ Sulsky and Dani ‘Ansky’ Stern.
While the bulk of the discussion focused on whether the practice of multi-accounting was cheating or not, alongside it a much more personal kind of drama was born. This happened when Grundy posted an apparent defence of multi-accounting, saying “What choice do players have if they can't find anyone that will give them action HU?” Jungleman clearly took issue with this reasoning, quickly posting a reply that likely made railbirds everywhere pass out with excitement: “yo ben grundy, im waiting for you all day you lil bitch. Any stake you want including 500/1k”.
A challenge had been issued, and fans immediately started betting on the potential action. Grundy returned to the thread to reply and staunchly defend himself against Jungleman’s accusations that he was a shameless bum-hunter (someone who only plays opponents they feel are weaker than them, and refusing all other action), quoted in full below:
“He's [Jungleman] always shooting his mouth off. I've never sat out to him, and never will. If i'm online i'll happily play him..... If i ever set up a proper match over a number of hands, i'd need a guarantee he wasn't using his HUD”.
The unusual request that Jungleman ditch his HUD (a Heads-Up Display such as Hold’em Manager or PokerTracker, designed to collect data on your opponents as you play) was provocative, with many posters of the opinion that data-mining software is now part and parcel of online poker. Despite this, Jungleman promptly shot back “long story short, i will 100% play you with no HUD even though i think thats ridiculous terms”.
Under fire from many skeptical 2+2 users, Grundy stood by his words, saying, “Poker for me is using my brain, not a computer program to try and outplay opponents,” and calling software such as this “the worst thing that ever happened to online poker”.
Since then, however, Grundy seems to have fallen silent. Taking advantage of this, Jungleman has been confidently posting taunts about the Milkybarkid, laughingly asking if “anyone want[s] to sidebet he doesnt play […]? rest assured, I am far from the only one that has doubts about mr grundy”.
It is certainly true that Grundy has been embroiled in controversy before. In 2009, the London-based pro posted a graph displaying his Pot Limit Omaha winnings. The graph is extremely impressive, showcasing winnings of over $7.8 million and almost zero signs of variance in what is usually a very swingy game. While some people simply admired it as a thing of beauty, many others raised doubts as to its authenticity on the grounds that it was too good to be true. Grundy dismissed all claims of fakery, posting boldly on his blog that people were welcome to publically challenge him if they were willing to bet money on it. According to his terms, if he couldn’t prove beyond doubt that he’s won at least $5 million then he’d pay out $60,000. If he could, he’d win only $30,000. Predictably, the invitation to doubters to put their money where their mouth is almost immediately silenced any criticism.
For now, we’ll just have to wait and see if Grundy chooses to accept Jungleman’s challenge, and goes ahead with what is already a hotly-anticipated grudge match. For if there’s any combination completely irresistible to poker fans, it’s a battle of egos matched with super-high stakes. HU4Rollz, anyone?