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Things aren't always rosy in terms of finances for professional poker players. The ebbs and flows of variance which accompanies the game can be brutal, especially when coupled with other money leaks such as craps, blackjack or sports betting. When things are running bad for stretches of time, even players who seemingly have made tons of money have rough times making ends meet.
While no one knows the specifics as to why he did it, TJ Cloutier was forced to sell his 2005 $5,000 No Limit Hold ‘Em bracelet he captured at the World Series of Poker to the Plano Pawn Shop. In turn, the pawn shop then posted the item on online auctioneer eBay.com and it recently sold for $4,006. It was a surprising turn of events considering that Cloutier has been a highly successful poker player for decades. The 71-year old pro has captured 6 World Series of Poker bracelets and sports career tournament earnings over $9 million. However, during a rough patch, he had to make the tough decision of handing it over to the pawn shop and was unable to meet the terms to retrieve it in time. As a result, it was posted on eBay on January 14.
In a surprising twist, it has just been revealed that the purchaser of the item was Cake Poker, the online poker site. On some level, this would appear to be a rather positive development as it was not purchased by someone who could just fade into obscurity with it.
At present time, Cake Poker is being coy about what plans it has for the bracelet. Will they return the bracelet to the owner, or perhaps use it as a promotional tool and offer it up for grabs in an online tournament of some kind? Or will they perhaps use it to get Cloutier to endorse their site. No one knows as yet, it is all speculation. Be assured that this story is really just beginning.
Source: www.aintluck.com
