T.J. Cloutier’s professional poker career started out when he was in the Army and playing the game with his fellow G.I.’s. He attended the University of California at Berkeley on a sports scholarship and played professional football for the Toronto Argonauts after the Army only to be permanently sidelined with a bum knee. Bad for the football team, great for the poker community.
He started out by playing pot limit poker games three times a week traveling from his home in Shreveport, LA to Dallas, TX. As his skills grew, he turned his attention to Vegas and with his wife Joy at his side, Cloutier to this day travels around the world to the many different tournaments that are available. He is the third all-time money winner of the World Series of Poker still to this day and he is a highly respected member of the poker community.
Cloutier believes that every poker player should learn something new when they sit at the felt. He has been said to have an ‘elephant’s memory’ and his study of both cards and hands throughout a game always remains in his head even years down the line. He can easily read other people and that everyone who plays poker needs to always remain alert and pay attention to the game before them instead of worrying about everything else.
He has co-authored four poker instruction books and you can find articles by him on CardPlayer.com that can help a player of any skill level. He holds Seven World Series of Poker bracelets and has won at least 55 major international tournaments. He has yet to win a World Series of Poker Main Event.
As of 2008, T.J. Cloutier’s total live tournament winnings exceed $9,300,000 and include cash wins at the following tournaments over the last year and a half:
Five Star World Classic Poker Classic / WPT World Championship-Season 6 Event #15 - WPT No Limit Hold’Em Championship 34th $65,955 Apr 26, 2008
World Poker Open / WPT Season 6 Event #23 - WPT No Limit Hold’Em Championship 21st $12,060 Jan 24, 2008
Scotty Nguyen Poker Challenge Poker Pages Ranking No Limit Hold’Em Championship 1st $240,560 Nov 18, 2007
World Poker Finals / WPT Event Season 6 WPT No Limit Hold’Em Championship 12th $72,955 Nov 13, 2007
Gulf Coast Poker Championship / WPT Season 6 WPT No Limit Hold’Em Championship 21st $14,017 Sep 9, 2007
3rd Annual Red River Roundup No Limit Hold’Em 2nd $120,000 Aug 23, 2007
38th Annual World Series of Poker Event #47 - WSOP No Limit Hold’Em 17th $25,593 Jun 29, 2007
38th Annual World Series of Poker Event #37 - WSOP Pot Limit Hold’Em 11th $10,902 Jun 22, 2007
38th Annual World Series of Poker Event #22 - WSOP No Limit Hold’Em 23rd $20,034 Jun 13, 2007
NBC National Heads Up Poker Championship Heads Up - No Limit Hold’Em 16th $25,000 Mar 4, 2007
Scandinavian Open / EPT Event Season 3 EPT No Limit Hold’Em 20th $13,395 Jan 20, 2007
