T.J. Cloutier

Thomas James Cloutier is a Poker Hall of Fame inductee (2006). He has been playing poker for over 50 years. Born in 1939 in California, TJ went to college at UC Berkeley and actually played in the 1959 Rose Bowl. He was drafted shortly thereafter and took up poker playing in the Army. After playing professional football in the Canadian league until stopped by an injury, TJ migrated to Texas to work on the oil rigs, playing poker in the off hours. He switched to professional status as soon as he figured out he was earning more money in poker than with his job. Cloutier’s specialty has been Hold’em events. He has six WSOP titles in all: 1987 for Limit Omaha, 1994 for Pot Limit Hold’em and Omaha 8 or better, 1998 for Pot Limit Omaha, 2004 for Razz and 2005 for No Limit Hold’em. He has come close to winning the Main Event four times. T.J. also participates in the World Poker Tour and has finished third at the 2003 Legends of Poker event. He is still active in many other tournaments and televised competitions as well. In one year, T.J., while holding the jack and nine of clubs, flopped a flush. He did it not once, but three times. Thus, the Jack-Nine suited in clubs is called in Hold’em parlance a “T.J. Cloutier.” As of 2007 Cloutier has won well over $9 million in live tournaments. Reportedly he has given a good portion of those winnings back to casinos by playing craps (with a negative edge). Together with Tom McEvoy, T.J. Cloutier has authored four books on championship poker, and has published one other on Hold’em Strategies for the Final Table. He is a frequent columnist in Card Player magazine.