The Institution

• June 2006
• |
• Gary Wise

For me, the classic image of the old school poker player includes a Stetson, cowboy boots, and a dusty trail. The Marlborough Man puts his roll on the line, takes all the money, and then the real game begins; first one out of town wins. When you’ve played with your life, it’s easier to bet all your money.

T.J. Cloutier is a huge man; 6’4”, thick chest, broad shoulders, straight back. That’s a powerful frame for a twenty-five-year old – T.J. is 67. Others may be louder or more flamboyant, but Cloutier helped lay the foundation upon which the poker world is built today. When you’re an institution, you don’t have to yell over the mob for TV time.

Cloutier has won just about everything worth winning in the poker world, other than the World Series of Poker World Championship; and he came tantalizingly close to that goal more than once – second in 1985; fifth in 1988; third in 1998. Those were the easy ones. The real tease came in 2000, when he found Jesus – in the form of Chris Ferguson.

Jesus Ferguson isn’t to be confused with his Nazarene namesake. So named for his wiry frame, long hair, and beard, Ferguson’s an amicable enough guy, though a professed atheist. The roles that faith and prayer play in so many people’s lives are usurped by data, computers, and math in his. That’s not to say he’s not a good man, but when he gets to the felt, he’s a machine.

Ferguson entered the six-player final table with more than half of the five million-plus chips in play, thanks largely to the three-way hand that ended the fight for final table seats. His pocket aces knocked Jeff Shulman and his kings out in seventh. Jim McManus, eventual writer of Positively Fifth Street, entered the final day’s play in second place with $554,000. Jesus had $2,853,000.

As Chris bullied the table, Cloutier was hanging on for dear life. He’d bet 60% of his chips into that final hand and had just $216,000 left after making a tough fold with pocket jacks. While TJ searched for a hand to play at the start of that final day, Ferguson dispatched Roman Abinsay in sixth place. Hasan Habib knocked out McManus, and then got knocked out himself. As Andy Glazer noted in his report, TJ “had stolen one pot, made one hand, and watched three opponents vanish before he could finish three cigarettes.” It was an incredible first half hour of play. Steve Kaufman went down twenty minutes later, leaving only the two guys everyone had come to see.

TJ started the final with $500,000, less than 10% of the chips in play. He doubled up on the sixth hand, when his T♦9♠ hit trips on the flop. After taking a few moderate pots, he thought he’d seized control when he went all-in with A♦K♣ against Ferguson’s A♥7♥, but the board paired twice and the pot was chopped. Still, it wasn’t long before the stacks drew even. They again got all-in with an ace each, and again, Ferguson’s inferior kicker was nullified by the board.

Jesus was unnerved. He’d entered the day with the bracelet virtually around his wrist, and then accumulated over 90% of the chips. Now, fazed, he was locking horns with one of the great tournament players in the game’s annals and losing the battle. The glasses were off, the hat removed, his thin hands moving without their customary direction. He held a slight chip lead after taking a half-million dollar pot when TJ raised the $25,000-$50,000 blinds to $175,000.

Jesus raised his A♠9♣ to $600,000, a bet designed to take the pot immediately. When Cloutier re-raised all-in, Chris gave up in a way, admitting afterwards, “I just understood that I wasn’t going to be able to steal a lot of pots from TJ Cloutier; I wasn’t going to be able to outplay him, so when we had a big pot like that going, I figured, maybe it’s time to gamble.” He rocked on his elbows and ran his hands through his hair as he considered the options. Finally, he shrugged and admitted, “I’ll gamble.” Again, Cloutier turned over the better ace, a diamond, to go with the queen of clubs.

The flop came 2♥K♣4♥, laying most of Ferguson’s hopes to waste. The king of hearts on the turn made for another possible chop, but Ferguson had to be preparing himself for everything that comes with being the victim of the biggest comeback in poker history. Then the nine of hearts hit the river.

The suddenly lighter-than-air Ferguson leapt from his comatose pose. The championship he’d almost given away was his, the results now the only thing that mattered. He leaned across the table and shook Cloutier’s hand, saying, “You outplayed me.” Chris has gone on to accumulate five WSOP bracelets and over $5,000,000 in tournament winnings.