T. J. Cloutier

Thomas James Cloutier (born October 13 1939) is a professional poker player from Albany, California. He was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 2006.

Early years
Cloutier attended the University of California, Berkeley on an athletic scholarship for American 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 U.S. Army. After the Army, he played football in the Canadian Football League for Toronto and Montreal, but an injury cut his career short.

Cloutier then started a food company, but it was not successful, so he moved to Texas to work on oil rigs. On his off days he began to play poker, and quit his job after realizing that he was winning more money playing poker than working. He started playing poker when he was a caddy at a golf course and played poker after the rounds.

Tournament career
Cloutier specializes in playing tournament poker, especially No Limit and Pot Limit Hold'em. He is the only person in the history of the World Series of Poker (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.

Despite winning dozens of tournaments, he has never won the main event of the World Series of Poker, although he has placed four times in the top 5, including two 2nd place finishes in 1985 and 2000.

Cloutier also plays in World Poker Tour (WPT) events, where his highest finish to date was 3rd place in the 2003 Legends of Poker event won by Mel Judah.

Cloutier has also featured in the Ultimate Poker Challenge, the National Heads-Up Poker Championship, Poker Superstars Invitational Tournament and Poker Royale: Battle of the Ages.

Cloutier is currently second to Phil Hellmuth (41) for the most all-time WSOP final table finishes record, with 39.

As of 2008, his total live tournament winnings exceed $9,300,000.

Poker writings
Cloutier is the co-author (together with Tom McEvoy) of four books:
 * Championship Tournament Practice Hands
 * Championship Holdem
 * Championship Omaha
 * Championship No-Limit and Pot Limit Hold'em.

In May 2006 Cloutier released How To Win The Championship: Hold'em Strategies For The Final Table, a book covering tournament strategy with an emphasis on the final few tables.

He also used to write for Card Player magazine.

Media

 * He features in the PC Game World Class Poker with T.J. Cloutier