Professional Poker Players Header

Poker Book

T.J. Cloutier: Professional Poker Player Profile

T.J. Cloutier Picture

With around 50 years of poker experience under his belt, T.J. Cloutier enjoys the prestige of being the biggest earner in the poker world. He has taken home anywhere between $7 and $8 million in tournament winnings. He is also the only player to have won events in all three types of Omaha at the World Series of Poker (WSOP). A Texas Hold'em starting hand, the Jack-9 of clubs, is called the "T.J. Cloutier" because Cloutier had flopped three flushes in one year with it.

In spite of his stellar accomplishments, T.J. Cloutier has never won a main WSOP event. However, he has placed four times in the top five, including two second-place finishes. He has six bracelets to his name. He has also made the final table twice on the World Poker Tour (WPT), at the Reno Hilton and the Bicycle Casino.

He is well-respected among his colleagues, and his many years of poker experience makes him a true authority on the sport. Cloutier has co-authored four books on poker with Tom McEvoy: "Championship Tournament Practice Hands," "Championship Holdem," "Championship Omaha," and "Championship No-Limit and Pot Limit Hold'em." He also writes for Card Player Magazine.

Cloutier was an all-around athlete. He attended the University of California at Berkeley on a football and basketball scholarship. However, his mother fell ill and he had to stop school because of the financial strain. Soon after this he was drafted into the Army, and this was where he learned how to play poker. He didn't play professionally immediately after leaving the Army; he played in the Canadian Football League. A knee injury cut his football career short.

Cloutier went home and started a business called "Best Quality Foods." He had to shut it down when an outside partner was found committing embezzlement. Cloutier then went to work as a derrick man, and played poker in his spare time. When he realized that he was making more money playing poker than working at the oil rigs, he quit his job and pursued poker as a profession.

This venerable veteran believes the one most important thing that poker players have to do is develop their observation skills. Knowing one's enemies is the key to victory. "If you and I had played poker together five years ago," he has said, "I wouldn't necessarily recall your name today, but I would remember your face and how you played your hands in different spots, your tendencies." Father to six children, and loving husband to his wife of over 20 years, T.J. Cloutier remains a globetrotter, flying off several times a year to join poker tournaments. He and his wife Joy have made their home in Texas.

Top Poker Players

 Alan Betson
 Alan Goehring
 Allen Cunningham
 Amarillo Slim
 Amir Vahedi
 Andy Bloch
 Annie Duke
 Barry Greenstein
 Barry Shulman
 Carlos Mortensen
 Chip Jett
 Chip Reese
 Chris Bjorin
 Chris Grigorian
 Chris "Jesus" Ferguson
 Chris Moneymaker
 Curt Kohlberg
 Dan Harrington
 Daniel Negreanu
 Dave "Devilfish" Ulliott
 David Benyamine
 David Colclough
 David Pham
 David Plastik
 Dewey Tomko
 Diego Cordovez
 Doyle Brunson
 Erik Seidel
 Eskimo Clark
 Gus Hansen
 Hasan Habib
 Howard Lederer
 Hoyt Corkins
 Huck Seed
 Humberto Brenes
 Jay Heimowitz
 Jennifer Harman
 John Juanda
 Johnny Chan
 Layne Flack
 Men Nguyen
 Phil Gordon
 Phil Hellmuth
 Phil Ivey
 Phil "Unabomber" Laak
 Robert Williamson III
 Sam Farha
 Scotty Nguyen
 T.J. Cloutier

Poker RSS Feed
Poker Tips