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T.J. Cloutier
Thomas James (T.J) Cloutier is a major player in tournament poker
who, like
Doyle Brunson, started out as an athlete. Cloutier was borne in California
in 1939, and attended the University of California at Berkeley on an athletic
scholarship. He played in the Rose Bowl in 1959. After dropping out of college
due to financial hardship, Cloutier was drafted into the Army, where he learned
to play poker. After the service, Cloutier played football in the Canadian
Football League for Toronto and Montreal, but his football career was cut short
by an injury. Following an attempt at starting his own business, Cloutier moved
to Texas where he worked on oil rigs. It was at this time that he started to
play poker, and realized that he could make more playing poker than working on
the oil-rigs.
T.J. Cloutier came to tournament poker later in life than many of the current
tournament players, but quickly proved to be a formidable competitor. Although
he has never won the World Series of Poker main event, he has placed four times
in the top 5, including two 2nd place finishes in 1985 and 2000. Cloutier’s
specialty is No Limit and Pot Limit Hold’em. He is the only player in the
history of WSOP to have won events in all three types of Omaha played at the
World Series, Pot Limit High, Limit High, and Limit 8 or Better High-low split.
Cloutier Has six WSOP bracelets, for the 1987 $1,000 Limit Omaha Hi, the 1994
$1,500 Limit Omaha 8 or Better, the 1994 $2,500 Pot Limit Texas Hold’em, the
1998 $2,500 Pot Limit Omaha Hi, the 2004 $1,500 Seven Card Razz, and the 2005
$5,000 No Limit Hold’em. He also plays in the World Poker Tour events, and has
been featured in the Ultimate Poker Challenge, the National Heads-Up Poker
Championship, Poker Superstars Invitational Tournament and Poker Royal: Battle
of the Ages. Cloutier’s live tournament winnings through 2006 exceed $8,500,000.
Cloutier has co-authored four books with Tom McEvoy, Championship Tournament
Practice Hands, Championship Holdem,
Championship Omaha, and Championship No-Limit and Pot Limit Hold’em. In
2006, Cloutier released his fifth book, How to win the Championship: Hold’em
Strategies For The Final Table, a book covering tournament strategy. His
articles can also be found in Card Player Magazine.
In 2006, T.J. Cloutier was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame. He currently
resides with his wife, Joy, in Richardson, Texas. |
