With one of the most interesting names in the poker world, Cycalona Gowen, better known as Clonie, has proven that she isn’t just a pretty face. Born in 1971 in Kiowa, Oklahoma, she was given such an unusual name because she was born during a horrific storm. When she was a teenager, Clonie and her family moved to Corsicana, Texas.
Introduced to poker by a boyfriend’s father, she would make weekend drives to Dallas and Shreveport, Louisiana and rake in a couple hundred dollars playing at the poker tables. She started making a name for herself in the poker world in 2003 when she followed up a top 10 finish in the WPT Costa Rica Classic by winning the WPT Ladies Night Event. Her victory against world-class players Annie Duke and Jennifer Harman was watched by millions of viewers and was the highest rated WPT show ever broadcast.
Clonie has made appearances on television including a segment of Good Morning America and several times has been featured in the New York Times, Dallas Observer, Texas Monthly and Esquire Magazine. She has served as a guest commentator for the Ultimate Poker Challenge and the European World Poker Championship in Dublin, and is a regular columnist for All In magazine. She frequently hosts tournaments and charity events and is now a partner in a poker school, teaching women (and men) the basics of tournament play.
Player Stats
2008: Winner World Poker Open $5,000 No Limit Hold’em championship Event
2008: Winner Poker After Dark IV $20,000 Week 4 Mission Impossible
2008: Winner Bellagio Cup IV $5,000 No Limit Hold’em
2008: 34th place WSOP $2,000 Pot Limit Hold’em
2008: 34th place WSOP $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha
2008: 60th place WSOP $10,000 World Championship Heads Up No Limit Hold’em
2008: 15th place WSOP $1,000 No Limit Hold’em
2008: 2nd place Poker After Dark III $20,000 week 8 ‘Gus and the Ladies’
2008: 14th place WPT Bay 101 Shooting Stars Championship Event
2007: 102nd place WSOP $1,500 No Limit Hold’em
2007: Winner Poker After Dark II $20,000 Week 17 Poker Prowess
2007: 64th place WSOP $2,000 No Limit Hold’em
2007: 5th place Scotty Nguyen Poker Challenge $300 No Limit Hold’em
2007: 2nd place Poker Nations Cup II Grand Final
2007: Winner Poker After Dark $20,000 Week 10
2007: 11th place 5th Annual 5-Star World Poker Classic $5,000 No Limit Hold’em
2007: 4th place Poker After Dark $20,000 week 7
2007: 6th place Aussie Millions Australian Heads Up Championship
2006: 38th place WPT 5th Annual 5 Diamond World Poker Classic $15,000 Doyle Brunson N. American Poker Classic – No Limit Hold’em
2006: 25th place WPT World Poker Finals Championship Event No Limit Hold’em
2006: 19th place WSOP $1,500 No Limit Hold’em
2006: 234th place WSOP $1,500 No Limit Hold’em
2006: 3rd place Full Tilt Poker Pro Showdown $120,000 No Limit Hold’em
2006: 4th place 888.com Grand Final
2005: 4th place Fourth Annual Five Diamond World Poker Classic $2000 No Limit Hold'em
2005: 7th place Ultimate Poker Challenge $2000 No Limit Hold'em
2005: 3rd place FullTiltPoker.net Championship
2004: 6th place WPT Ladies Night Out - Invitational
2003: Winner WPT Ladies Night I Main Event