The Nightly Turbo: Jungleman Challenge Cancelled, PokerStars Guinness Record, & More

Brett Collson Chief Editor

Dec 05, 2011 5 min read

After two months of publicity stunts, the "Jungleman Challenge" turned out to be a bigger flop than the "Durrrr Challenge." But there's still plenty of high-stakes action in Prague this week, and we'll bring you that story and more in this edition of the Nightly Turbo.

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High-Stakes Cash Game Replaces Jungleman Challenge

Dan "Jungleman" Cates didn't find any takers for a heads-up challenge he issued to the world, so the high-stakes prodigy is instead hosting a cash game in Prague on Tuesday, Dec. 6, that will be streamed on worldpokertour.com and thepokerfarm.com.

Cates will face off against Luke "FullFlush" Schwartz, Eoghan O'Dea, Tobias Reinkemeier, Czech businessman Jan Barta, and others, in a €100/€200 cash game with a minimum buy-in of €10,000. The hole cards will be shown and live commentary will be provided during the action by Jesse May.

In October, Cates publicly challenged anyone in the world to play him in a heads-up match at stakes of €200/€400 with a minimum buy-in of €100,000.

Organizers upped the ante by introducing a World Poker Heavyweight Championship belt to be given to the winner of the heads-up match, but the spectacle gained little interest and was even scoffed at by many top pros.

Tuesday's cash game will get underway at 1600 CET (0700 PST) and will be aired on a 15-minute delay, as was scheduled for the original Jungleman Challenge. On Monday, PokerNews' Kristy Arnett spoke with Cates about the upcoming cash game in Prague:

More info about Tuesday's cash game can be found at thepokerfarm.com.

PokerStars Sets Another Guinness World Record

PokerStars shattered its own Guinness World Record Sunday when 200,000 players took part in a $1 no-limit hold'em tournament, besting the previous mark for most players to ever compete in a single online tournament.

The previous record of 149,196 players, set in 2009, was cleared easily on Sunday as the cap of 200,000 players was reached nearly four hours before the tournament even started. Guinness World Record Adjudicator Gaz Deaves was on hand for the celebration in Prague to certify that PokerStars had established an official new World Record.

Russian player "sokoluk1991" ultimately took down the title after a three-way chop saw each player collect at least $25,000. "Sokoluk1991" earned $40,258, while Estonia's "Kaitz20" earned $34,000 and the United Kingdom's "King-2-Z" found $25,741 in their account after it was all said and done.

The world record marked the official launch of PokerStars' 10th Anniversary celebration, which will continue through Dec. 18 and include a $10 Million Sunday Million tournament, a chance to win one of 100 trips to the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, and several other prizes.

Get more info on the 10th Anniversary promotions at PokerStars.com.

22 Players Confirmed for $1 Million Buy-in Event at WSOP

The world's richest poker tournament is closer to becoming a reality. On Monday, Caesars Interactive Entertainment announced that 22 players have already committed to the Big One for One Drop, the $1 million buy-in tournament taking place at the 2012 World Series of Poker. The event will run from July 1 through 3, 2012, at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, and will award the first-ever platinum WSOP bracelet to the winner.

ONE DROP Chair and Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberté introduced the historic tournament in June with a goal of raising enough money for a project that will see an impoverished country receiving access to clean water. Of the $1 million buy-in, $111,111 will be donated to ONE DROP, leaving $888,889 of each entry fee going directly into the rake-free prize pool.

Among players that have committed to the event so far include Patrik Antonius, Gus Hansen, Daniel Negreanu, Johnny Chan, Tom Dwan, Tony Guoga, Jonathan Duhamel, and Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier.

More information on the Big One for One Drop can be found at PokerNews.com.

Fabian Quoss Wins GUKPT Grand Final

German poker pro Fabian Quoss defeated a talented final table to win the Grosvenor United Kingdom Poker Tour Grand Final on Sunday, picking up a top prize of £138,750 and his third major live title. Quoss, who had previous wins at the 2010 English Poker Open and the 2011 German Championship of Poker, outlasted a field of 195 players to win the £2,500 buy-in GUKPT event in London.

Poker triple-crown winner Jake Cody began the final table with the chip lead on Sunday, holding a slight lead over Quoss when play began. Cody, who already has titles at the World Series of Poker, European Poker Tour and World Poker Tour, as well as a High Roller victory at the United Kingdom and Ireland Poker Tour, ultimately fell just short of his fifth different series win on Sunday.

After pros like John Gale, James Mitchell and Lalit Khajuria were ousted from the final table, Cody and Quoss were the final two players remaining with virtually even chip stacks. However, it took only 20 minutes to decide a winner as the German won an all-in preflop battle with ace-queen against the king-jack of Cody to secure the victory.