Clonie Gowen

Clonies real name is Cycalona, its inspired by the fact that she was born during a powerful storm.

A high school jock, she was on a state championship basketball team and was ranked seventh in the high jump in track and field. At the age of fifteen, Gowen was crowned Miss Teen McAlester, Oklahoma.

Introduced to poker by her boyfriend’s father, she started playing poker while living in Dallas and driving to Shreveport, Louisiana, on weekends and making a few hundred dollars each week.

She burst onto the poker scene by following up her Top 10 finish at the WPT Costa Rica Classic with a win at the World Poker Tour Ladies’ Night event in 2003. 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.

Formerly the owner of a travel agency, Clonie now is a full time poker player and host, and also a full time mother to two children, a 12-year-old daughter (Morgan) and a 3-year-old son (Seth).

As of 20005, her total live tournament winnings exceed $205,000.

In her own words:

“With the guys I play with in Dallas, I am just another player who is capable of taking their money. I don’t think being a woman hurts me at all. Most men don’t give women credit for playing poker well, so that hurts them.”

“To be a successful player, you need a lot of confidence. You must have the “it is really all about me” mentality, and that’s how most poker players are. (Clonie draws a little circle in the air with her index finger and smiles.) I live in this little circle here, so I never really felt excluded.”

In her daughters words:
“This is my mom, there’s nothing cool about her, mom’s not cool.” (Clearly not impressed by poker celebrity)