T.J. Cloutier

The Greatest Never to Win the Big One

Thomas James “T.J.” Cloutier played college and pro football before taking to the Texas road-gambling circuit, learning poker in back rooms against players who didn’t forgive mistakes. He became one of the most feared tournament players of all time — and the author, with Tom McEvoy, of strategy books that taught a generation.

Heartbreak in 2000

Cloutier’s career is shadowed by one of poker’s cruelest beats. Heads-up for the 2000 WSOP Main Event title, he got his money in ahead with A♠Q♥ against Chris Ferguson’s A♦9♣ — only to watch a nine fall on the river. It was his second Main Event runner-up finish, and the closest he ever came to the title that eluded him. Play it in A Nine on the River.

A Hall-of-Fame Body of Work

Don’t let the near-misses fool you: Cloutier won six WSOP bracelets across No-Limit Hold’em and all three Omaha variants — a feat no one else has matched — and reached an astonishing number of WSOP final tables. He was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 2006.

Playing Style

Old-school and instinctive. Cloutier reads players rather than charts, mixing decades of live experience with fearless aggression when the moment calls for it.