TJ Cloutier(credit: Image Masters Inc - Eric Harkins)
TJ Cloutier, of Richardson, TX took the title in the $5,000+150 Championship Event, No Limit hold ‘em tournament Tuesday, November 20, during the “Scotty Nguyen Poker Challenge IV” at the Cherokee Casino. He made $240,560 for 1st Place in the 124-player field.
TJ came to the final table 3rd in chips and took out four of the nine players, including Bill Edler and Scotty Nguyen. This marks TJ’s 60th major poker title and puts his total tournament winnings over $8.6 million.
Second place finisher Ray Henson went heads to head with TJ for 166 hands in a drawn out battle for first. Ray had TJ Cloutier 3 to 1 in chips when they went heads up and took over to win. TJ Cloutier said, “Oklahoma has been really good to me. I’ve placed 1st and 2nd in two major events in this state this year. This is a great place to play poker!”
The Championship Event brought in a remarkable amount of celebrity poker professionals. Among the noted names that appeared in the event were Scotty Nguyen, Bill Edler, Layne Flack, Mike Matasou, Todd Brunson, Tom Franklin, Gavin Smith, Berry Johnston, Ray Henson and TJ Cloutier.
These are the championship standings:
1) TJ Cloutier (Richardson, TX) - $ 240,560
2) Ray Henson (Houston, TX) - $ 138,322
3) Brant Hale (Norman, OK) - $ 72,168
4) Gavin Smith (Las Vegas, NV) - $ 42,098
5) Noah Nodine (Norman, OK) - $ 33,077
6) Daniel Robertson (Alma, AR) - $ 27,063
7) Gil George (Dallas, TX) - $ 21,049
8) Scotty Nguyen (Las Vegas, NV) - $ 15,033
9) Bill Edler (Las Vegas, NV) - $ 12,028