A Poker Legend

If we told you to name the top 20 all-time money winners in tournament poker, you could probably name the majority of the players. There are the obvious names like Antonio Esfandiari and Sam Trickett, who finished first and second respectively in the $1 Million Big One for One Drop, but there are a few players that would inevitably slip through the cracks like Men Nguyen, Carlos Mortsensen, and a player in the field today; 2006 Poker Hall of Fame inductee T.J. Cloutier.

Cloutier - a Texas native - ranks 19th on the all-time money list, and if you exclude buy-ins of $50,000 or more and invitational events, then he creeps up to 16th. Ironically, despite earning over $9.9 million in live tournaments, Cloutier has never recorded a seven-figure score. His largest score came in 2000, when he took second in the World Series of Poker Main Event, earning $896,500. It was the second time he finished runner-up in the Main Event, and the fourth time he made the final table.

While he doesn't own a Main Event bracelet, Cloutier has won six WSOP gold bracelets dating back to 1987 where he won a $1,000 Limit Omaha event. He bested Robert "The Chip Burner" Turner heads up to earn $72,000 and the hardware.

We will keep our eyes on the poker legend today and see if he can inch up the all-time money list just a little more.

Tags: T.J. Cloutier