Professional poker player T.J. Cloutier was reportedly down on his luck enough to have pawned one of his prized possessions – his 2005 World Series of Poker bracelet.

The bracelet was auctioned last week on eBay.com by a Plano, Texas pawn dealer that says Cloutier pawned the prize and never returned to claim it.  The winning bid was $4,006.  It was later confirmed that the high bidder was a representative of Cake Poker, an online poker site.  The site said in their official blog that they intend to return the bracelet to its “rightful owner”.

Cloutier, who has career winnings of over $9 million, refused to do a formal interview, but reportedly told a producer of the Hardcore Poker Show, “I don’t want to talk about it … Yeah, it’s mine. I was short. I pawned it. I tried to get it back with my ticket but I was too late.”

The events come as no surprise to anybody close to the professional poker playing circuit.  T.J. Cloutier is a gambler.  He spoke about his “fix” in an interview with Card Player Magazine last year.  “Everybody knows that I like to play craps and that I really gamble with it sometimes,” the 6 time WSOP bracelet winner told the magazine.  “I regret that I’m so into it, but there’s a fix for everyone in these Vegas casinos. People get into blackjack or high-stakes slots. When I want to get away, I get away with the craps … The hard part is walking away with your money.”

Cloutier received the bracelet when he won the 2005 World Series of Poker $5,000 No Limit Hold’em event.  The bracelet accompanied a $657k cash prize.