T.J. Blows away the Field!
By Max Shapiro
T.J. Cloutier
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A Texas tornado named T.J. Cloutier roared into town, huffing
and bluffing to blow away the competition and win the 14th event
in Legends of Poker, 1/2 lowball and 1/2 hold'em. The legendary
T.J. was playing in only his second Legends 2000 event as he
added one more entry in his bulging book of records.
The structure for this event was 25 minutes of lowball followed
by 20 minutes of hold'em. The field got down to eight when Gene Timberlake knocked out Rusty Bagaygay in a $1,000-$2,000
lowball round, making a smooth eight to Rusty's 10-8. David
Hoekstra was the chip leader at the final table, followed closely
by David Plastik. Plastik had been blessed with a tremendous
lowball rush early in the tournament, making any number of
wheels and sixes, most memorably when he drew and tied
Timberlake, who had been dealt a pat wheel. Pat Flanagan
started with the fewest chips and went all in before the draw
on the sixth hand. He and Timberlake drew one while Casey
Kastle stood pat. When Timberlake bet out, Kastle fidgeted
in indecision for a lengthy period before folding. Timberlake
made an 8-7 and eliminated Flanagan, who caught a king.
Two hands later, Toto Leonidas went all in when Timberlake
raised. Toto took one card, but it was hopeless because he
was drawing dead to a nine against the Houston accountant's
rough eight. Next, Kastle tried to bluff with paired fours,
but Timberlake picked him off with a 9-8. Timberlake had
perhaps learned from his own mistake because he had earlier
tried the same bluff with the same two fours, only to be
caught stealing by David Hoekstra.
Three hands into the next round of hold'em, Kastle button-raised
with A-8 of hearts and was called by Plastik. Casey then bet all
in on the turn when an eight arrived, but David already had paired
a jack and caught a trip jack for good measure on the river.
Four hands later, Plastik again made three jacks, this time a set
on the flop. Timberlake bet the turn but folded when Plastik
raised him. Soon after, Hoekstra raised with pocket fives.
Timberlake, with only $1,500 left, called with just 7-4 of clubs
and won when a seven flopped. Hoekstra couldn't believe it.
"You called with 7-4?" he exclaimed. "I was going for a flush,"
Gene explained."
Timberlake managed to survive another all-in hand against T.J.
and Plastik by making a straight on the river. But as soon as the
game switched back to lowball, with $2,000-$4,000 rounds, T.J.
cut himself some timber. All in for $1,200, Gene drew two and
made a respectable nine, but Cloutier drew one to 8-6-3-2 and
snagged a four. Later, T.J. drew two and beat Hoekstra with
aces. "What game are you playing?" Plastik asked.
CPA Lindsay Jones, meanwhile, had been playing very few hands.
Finally, he put in his last chips against Hoekstra and Plastik. All
three players drew one. "I check," said Jones jokingly. What he
meant was "I'm checking out," because his ten wasn't good enough
against Hoekstra's nine.
Suddenly, Plastik went into a nosedive. First he bet a 10-9-8 into
Hoekstra's nine. "Why did I bet?" he berated himself. Then he
tried betting out with paired aces and ran into T.J.'s 7-4. Next,
he lost a heartbreaker to Hoekstra: 8-7-6-4 to 8-7-6-3. Finally,
he lost everything to Hoekstra by drawing one to 8-7-6-4 and
catching a four, while Hoekstra drew one to a seven and caught
a nine. "Man, I had all those chips," was the crestfallen Plastik's
last words as he departed.
Heads-up with the fearsome T.J., Hoekstra expressed gratitude
that at least he wasn't playing him no-limit. Actually, Hoekstra
managed to last quite a few hands, though T.J, with much the
greater edge in experience and know-how, gradually wore him
down. Finally, Hoekstra went all in but the pot was split when
both players turned up an A-Q. "World Series hand," a spectator
calls out, referring to the cards T.J. held when he suffered a
terrible beat on the final hand of this year's World Series. "I
don't want to hear about that," T.J. replies.
The tournament ended soon after the lowball came in, with
$3,000-$6,000 limits. Hoekstra became desperately low on
chips after T.J. made a 6-5. Finally, he made a desperate last
all-in bluff with two eights. T.J. checked him out with a
queen, and that was it.
Biography - T.J. Cloutier
"I'm the only man in the world who won $896,000 in a tournament
without being able to put it down as a win," T.J. says. Well, he has
plenty of wins he can put down. The towering Texan has four gold
bracelets and is the leading money winner at the World Series with $2,650,000. He also scored numerous wins at the Bicycle Casino,
most notably the Diamond Jim Brady championship events in 1990,
1991 and 1992.
Tonight he was down to $420 with nine tables, but that didn't faze
him at all. "There was still plenty of time to go," he said. As usual,
he used a lot of muscle in this event. "I won four pots in a row
without a hand," he confides. Although T.J. is known largely as a
hold'em player, he plays every game, evidenced by the three poker
books he has written. As for lowball, for 17 years that was the
only game he played (no-limit) at Artichoke Joe's in the Bay area,
where he originally lived.
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