You know that you are one of the great Texas Hold 'em no-limit players of all time when a starting hand is named after you. 10-2 is "the Doyle Brunson", named after the cards he was holding when he won both his WSOP titles. Even more strange is the fact that in both years he made the same winning hand, a full house. He will superstitiously play these cards to this very day. If your two hole cards happen to be J-9 of clubs then, however, you are holding "T J Cloutier", a poker legend who still competes ferociously to this very day.

A lot of people mistakenly think that any J-9 is a T J Cloutier. How wrong they are! Some also think that T(en) J(ack) is named after him, and they're wrong too. It is only the J-9 of clubs and the reason is simple: In one year, T J flopped three straight flushes holding J-9 of clubs. Now if you could just manage that maybe someone would name a starting hand after you.

Cloutier is one of the best tournament poker players of all time. He has won over 50 major events with buy-ins of $500 or more. He has a great record at the WSOP, although he has never won the big one. He is consistently in the mix, though, at the main event, and has had 4 agonizing Top 5 Finishes.

When you meet Cloutier in person you will be slightly intimidated. A former CFL tight end, he has a menacing presence and hands the size of waffle irons. There is a famous story about how a dealer once mistakenly mucked his cards on the turn when he was holding the stone nuts. There was only one player left in the pot, and he didn't relaize what had happened. T J kept on betting his hand, and because his own hands were so enromous he was able to fool his opponent into thinking he was still holding his cards behind them. The opponent folded on the river. This is known as a mixed-moral victory.

Cloutier has written, or rather dictated to ghost writers in his gruff manner, several essential guides to playing poker well. His advice is very useful. For example, on whether one should concentrate on side games or tournaments: "There is so much dead money in tournaments that good players have a huge overlay, especially in pot-limit and no-limit games, because the skill factor is so much higher in these games than in limit."

Here's another interesting scenario that Cloutier covers well in his writing. What do you do in a no-limit tournament when you flop middle set, and your opponent bets out before you? Let's say you're holding pocket 10s. The flop comes A - 10 - 2. Your opponent bets, and based on betting before the flop you are confident he has an A. T J says to flat-call the bet. Don't raise or go all-in. But what if your opponent is holding A-2 or A-10 and that second A pairs the board? As Cloutier puts it: "Columbus took a chance, so I'm going to take one, too." In terms of percentages it is a pretty good chance to take, and you can potentially bleed a lot more of your opponent's stack.

Cloutier is still a major player in any no-limit event and is widely regarded as one of the best poker players in the world today.