T.J. Cloutier
T.J. Cloutier was born in 1939 in Texas and began playing poker in high school. He was extremely talented in a number of sports and actually played professional football in Canada for five years before he had to retire due to knee injuries.
TJ Cloutier
It was when he had retired from professional football that Cloutier returned to playing poker. He was actually part of the famous ‘Texas Rounders’ who would travel around Texas during the 1960’s playing in some of the biggest money games. However it was not until 1983 that he made his first appearance at the World Series of Poker.
Although never having won a main event at the World Series of Poker he has finished in second place twice and has won six WSOP bracelets. Cloutier’s first WSOP bracelet was won in the Limit Ohama Hi in 1987. In 1994 he accumulated two more bracelets, one in Limit Ohama 8 or Better and one in Pot Limit Hold’em. His three other bracelets were won in 1998 (Pot Limit Ohama Hit), 2004 (Seven Card Razz) and in 2005 (No Limit Hold’em).
He has had a glittering World Series of Poker career so far with 38 final table finishes which is second only to Phil Hellmuth. He has 55 WSOP cashes which ranks him in 6th place.
It is estimated that he has accumulated almost ten million dollars in tournament winnings of which nearly four and a half million has come from the World Series of Poker.
T.J. Cloutier lives in Texas with his wife and has written a number of books on poker. These books have proved really popular with poker players the world over.
