The life of a poker player can often be summarized by a style, a trophy or sometimes, a single hand. In the case of T.J. Cloutier, however, his is a legacy that is more of a consistent presence in the game, and one that will never be forgotten.
What is the background of Cloutier? It’s an at-times surprising rise to fame and fortune for a former sports star turned poker pro.
Cloutier has won more major tournaments that anyone else in the history of poker. Despite being ill over the last year and having the difficult task of facing an expanding field of players, T.J. Still managed to beat out 466 of the best poker players in the world. Cloutier is one of the most veteran poker players on the major tournament circuit and has over 50 major tournament wins to his name. It’s also estimated that he’s won more than $10 million during his illustrious poker career. Cloutier discovering poker. Cloutier attended the University of California at Berkeley on an athletic scholarship for football and baseball and played in the Rose Bowl in 1959. However, he later dropped out because of family financial hardship. Cloutier was drafted into the. Online shopping from a great selection at Books Store. Cloutier: biography October 13, 1939 – Thomas James 'T.J.' Cloutier (born October 13, 1939) is a professional poker player from Richardson, Texas. He was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 2006. Early years Cloutier was born in Albany, California, and attended the University of California, Berkeley on an athletic scholarship.
Let’s go right back to the beginning and find out about a true poker idol.
Born and Bred in Cali
An Albany boy, Cloutier studied sports at the University of California when he approached manhood and starred at both American Football and Baseball on an athletic scholarship. Playing in the 1959 Rose Bowl, Cloutier team, the California Golden Bears were beaten 38-12 by the Iowa Hawkeyes and in a game dominated by the side Cloutier faced, their MVP was Bob Jeter, who would go on to play for the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears.
Due to his family’s financial struggles, the young Cloutier dropped out of college and would join the U.S. Army, before playing football in the Canadian Football League (CFL) for the Toronto Argonauts and Montreal Alouettes. Injury came, however, and Cloutier’s football career was over.
Transitioning into a completely different career, Cloutier was determined to make money, experimenting with food production, but with the failure of that and the end of his first marriage, Cloutier moved to Texas to work on Oil Rigs. While there, he started playing poker and began winning more in poker games against workmates than he was on the rig itself!
Becoming a Professional Gambler
Tj Cloutier Net Worth
Cloutier had the lucky knack of becoming a professional poker player at a time when to be professional was ahead of the curve. That wasn’t in the 1970’s but instead the 1980s. Cloutier transitioned effortlessly into a pro as he played poker after rounds of golf and began his 18-year stretch of winning World Series of Poker Bracelets in the 1980s.
Cloutier’s record at the WSOP is one to envy – six bracelets over the 18 years between 1987 and 2005, with wins in Limit Omaha Hi-Lo, Limit Omaha 8 or Better, Pot Limit Hold’em, Pot Limit Omaha Hi-Lo, Seven Card Razz and No Limit Hold’em, the only player to win all bracelets (over six) in separate disciplines.
The Man, The Legend
As Twitter account @CardsChat described, T.J. Cloutier had a great attitude to playing in poker tournaments, advising players to keep their cool and accept when bad players win vital pots.
It’s hard to have anything other than the deepest respect for T.J. Cloutier. He found an aspect of poker that he was superb at and pressed that tournament edge to the maximum that he could in his time, winning in arguably four or five poker eras.
Cloutier also made Phil ‘The Poker Brat’ Hellmuth explode with fury in this terrific hand from the archives.
Tj Cloutier Football
Still playing at the age of 81, T.J. Cloutier will always be a poker idol and has co-written four books with Tom McEvoy on the game, passing on his tremendous knowledge to further generations.
Having won over $10 million at the game he loved, Cloutier turned financial hardship on its head to become a legend in an industry that was probably a million miles from his dream life when he was a teenager. His dedication, aptitude and attitude all mark him out as a poker legend and in 2006, Cloutier was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame.
Biography
Tj Cloutier Net Worth
T.J. Cloutier had been a great, well-rounded athlete upon entering college at the University at California at Berkeley with a scholarship to play both football and basketball. When things got rough for his family, Cloutier was forced to drop out of school and settle for a job to do his part. This lasted until he was drafted into the army and sent to fight for the country. It was with this tour of duty that T.J. discovered poker.
Tj Cloutier Cookie
After his duties were fulfilled, Cloutier didn’t jump right into playing poker professionally. Instead, he went back to his passion of football and found a spot on the Montreal Allouettes in the Canadian Football League. Later traded to the Toronto Argonauts, Cloutier continued to play football until a knee injury cut his career short. Soon after, T.J. moved to Texas and his poker career really began to kick off.
Working in Texas on an oil rig, Cloutier started to play poker more and more in his spare time. Soon enough, T.J. would realize that he could make more money playing poker full time and quit his job.
Specializing in tournament poker, with an extensive list of cashes and titles, T.J. holds over 50 wins and six WSOP bracelets. Those six bracelets came in 1987, two in 1994, 1998, 2004, and 2005. Cloutier is also the only player to ever win the three different versions of Omaha at the WSOP; pot-limit Omaha, limit Omaha, and limit Omaha 8-or-better.
He’s never won the big one though, coming very close on multiple occasions. A second place in 1985, a fifth place in 1988, a third place in 1998, and a second place again in 2000 are as close as he’s come in the Main Event. If it wasn’t for Chris “Jesus” Ferguson coming behind in the final hand of the 2000 WSOP Main Event, Cloutier might have went on to capture the title.
Cloutier has also cashed in multiple WPT events, the United States Poker Championships, and the National Heads-Up Poker Championship among others.
Inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 2006, T.J. has authored books on both No-Limit and Pot-Limit Hold’em as well as Omaha. His career tournament earnings total over the $9 million mark.