Clonie Gowen Wins World Poker Open
Written by Roger S | Sunday, November 2nd, 2008
Despite all said about women’s equality, whenever a woman wins a mixed event in poker it does make big news. And when that woman is as beautiful as Clonie Gowen the news is gigantic.
So when Clonie won the World Poker Open $5,000 buy-in at the Gold Strike Casino last week the poker world went down memory lane with Clonie.
Her fans will recall that this Miss Teen Oklahoma graced the cover of Maxim magazine two years ago on which she appeared in a two-piece outfit strewing a pack of cards. Not only that but there was a two page spread of her photographs inside. Clonie said that she had received an offer from Playboy as well. Unfortunately the offer was not good enough because Clonie said, “And though my sister and mother were all for it, I reviewed the terms and thought it best I keep my clothes on.”
The World Poker Open had a starting field of 107 and a prize pool of over $500,000. Though none of the guys Clonie beat in the final table were big names in poker, a win is a win. For her first prize Clonie won $183,224, a free entry to the $10,000 WPT event at the Beau Rivage in January 2009 and the gold and diamond WPO bracelet. This was the second mixed event Clonie has won this year. The first was the No Limit Hold’Em event at the Bellagio Cup IV in July that fetched her $437,775. That field included up and coming player Vivek Rajkumar. 2008 has been a fantastic year for Clonie. She cashed in four events at the WSOP 2008 and earlier cashed in the WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star event. Clonie also won the Mission Impossible event in Poker After Dark this year, in which she prevented Mike Matusow from winning his first Poker After Dark prize. Clonie has won a total of three Poker After Dark events, a record she shares with Phil Hellmuth. Who cares if she does not have 11 WSOP bracelets.
Clonie is one of the most hyperactive personalities in the poker world. Perhaps this was ordained because she was born during a cyclone and is actually named Cycalona, which does sound better than Clonie. At school in Oklahoma she grew up with the boys. She played basketball at the state level and was a high jumper of renown. A boyfriend’s father taught her how to play poker after she had shifted to Dallas. She would drive to Louisiana on weekends to play competitive poker. Her first major win was at the World Poker Tour Ladies’ Night Invitational in 2003 where she beat Jennifer Harman, Annie Duke, Evelyn Ng and Kathy Liebert.
Clonie is associated with poker in more ways than playing. She has been a guest commentator on the Ultimate Poker Challenge and the European World Poker Championship. She teaches poker at the WPT Boot Camp. She is the brand ambassador for Full Tilt Poker. She writes for Bluff Magazine and All In Magazine. And she is on the Board of Directors for the United States Poker Association. And while doing all this she is raising two children.
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· Written by Roger S · Filed Under Poker News · Comments Off
