It's no understatment to say that Clonie "The Cyclone" Gowen has taken the poker world by storm. Her varied experience and unique perspective as a professional poker player provides an exceptional learning experience for students.
While visiting Costa Rica in 2003, Clonie entered her first World Poker Tour event. No one knew or paid her the slightest attention, but she finished 10th place just missing the final table. Earlier that week she took 2nd place losing heads up to poker pro Humberto Brenes.
The impressive performance in Costa Rica resulted in a invite a to the WPT's "Ladies Night" tournament. There, Clonie outmaneuvered far more experienced players such as Annie Duke, Jennifer Harmon, and Kathy Liebert, winning a seat to the $25,000 World Poker Tour Championship. Then followed that up with a 3rd place finish in Full TIlt Poker invitational event for $99,000, beating the majority of the players in one of the toughest fields ever assembled for a poker tournament. She made another televise final table on the Ultimate Poker Challenge and took 3rd in a Bellagio prelim event. She has numerous cashes in the World Series of Poker, and has won NBC Poker After Dark 3 times. July 2008 she entered the $5,000 Bellagio Cup where she won the 1st place title taking home $437,000.
The "Ladies Night" success launch Clonie's celebrity. She is now a regular columnist for Bluff Magazine, writing a monthly advice article title "Ask Clonie", and is a elite member of Team Full Tilt.
Competition is something on which Clonie has always thrived. 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 15, she won Miss Teen McAlester Oklahoma.
In July 2007, Gowen was on the cover of a special insert for World Series of Poker for Maxim Magazine. Clonie has also appeared on Good Morning America, and has been featured in the New York Times and Esquire Magazine. She also served as a guest commentator for the Ultimate Poker Challenge in Las Vegas, Nevada, and the European World Poker Championship in Dublin, Ireland.
Clonie is the mother of two children, and spends her non-poker hours being a rather traditional mom.