They Call Her Cycalona Gowen ... But You Can Call Her Clonie!

by Linda Johnson | Published: Jan 02, 2004

If you watched the Ladies Night Out special event on the World Poker Tour, you are probably interested to learn more about the winner, Clonie Gowen. This 31-year-old resident of Dallas, Texas, played her heart out on her way to her first major tournament victory. I first met Clonie in Costa Rica, and was very impressed with her "joie de vivre." She is an entrepreneur, who really enjoys playing poker. In fact, she recently sold her travel agency, so who knows what is in the cards for her future.

Linda Johnson: Tell us about your family life.

Clonie Gowen: I come from a large, close-knit family. I have two brothers and three sisters, all older than I. I have two nephews and two nieces. My daughter, Morgan, is 10 years old, and my husband, David, and I have a 17-month-old son named Seth.

LJ: What are your hobbies other than playing poker?

CG: I enjoy scuba diving, traveling, reading, and board games.

LJ: How did you get started playing poker?

CG: I guess penny-ante family poker doesn't count, so the real poker began when I was a teenager. My high school boyfriend and I played poker with his parents. They introduced me to seven-card stud and Texas hold'em. By the time I was legally able to gamble, I was ready for Las Vegas. I bought in for $40 in a seven-card stud game with a 10-cent ante. I lost my money and was devastated – but I was hooked.

LJ: Tell us how you got started in tournament poker.

CG: I started playing low-limit tournaments in Las Vegas and Dallas, but live games were still what I loved. I loved going to tournaments for the cash games, skipping the tournaments altogether. I enjoy one-table satellites, so I also played them and made a little extra cash, but I never entered the actual tournaments.

LJ: You seemed to do well in the Costa Rica tournaments. Tell us about your experience playing poker there.

CG: Costa Rica was a destination I had visited a couple of times; it is one of my favorite places in the world. My daughter and I went there when she was 6 years old. I wanted to scuba dive and see for myself what I had read about in the brochures. Then, a few years later, I read in Card Player about the wildest poker in the world being in Costa Rica. I thought, wow! Central America really has everything I love: rainforests, volcanoes, the ocean, and poker. I told my husband that I had to go. So, we packed up our 4-month-old son, two of our friends, and my father-in-law, and headed to Costa Rica so I could play poker.

I had asked a few of my friends back home for some input on strategy for the tournaments, since I knew I would be playing with world champions. They told me if I could beat the games in Dallas, I could play poker anywhere, and to keep that in mind. I played well, and finished second in the $500 buy-in no-limit hold'em tournament, and took 10th place in the World Poker Tour event. Needless to say, I had the time of my life.

LJ: What do you like most about poker?

CG: Winning, money, and the psychological strategies of the game, in that order. There is nothing more satisfying than figuring out who, why, when, and how much. I try to figure those things out so I can win.

LJ: What is it like for you personally to be a female playing poker mostly with males?

CG: Most men treat me with respect because I am a woman. What I mean by that is they watch what they say, and most men will stand up and put a jerk who is getting out of line in his place. 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.

LJ: Why do you think you have been so successful at poker?

CG: I love playing poker, and anytime you do what you love, you'll do well.

LJ: Who were your poker mentors?

CG: My mentors were the poker players who taught me how to win by beating the hell out of me in the beginning. I paid attention to the game, the players, and the strategies, and I learned.

LJ: Who are some of the players you most respect?

CG: There are many great poker players who aren't in the public eye, but they have my highest regard. They play consistently sharp games at every session. They include Tom Reynolds, John DePaul, Freddy Horrah, Larry Scott, Brook Stevens, and Bob Mapes. I also would like to mention two great female players, Sue and Song. Famous players I most respect are Chris Ferguson and Jennifer Harman.

LJ: What is your favorite poker game in both tournaments and side action?

CG: My favorite tournament game is no-limit hold'em. My favorite side game is pot-limit Omaha.

LJ: What is your favorite poker book?

CG: Positively Fifth Street.

LJ: What would make poker better, in your opinion?

CG: Sponsorship from corporations.

LJ: What do you think of the World Poker Tour and its impact on poker?

CG: The World Poker Tour is a first-class organization that has changed poker forever; it is bringing poker to mainstream America with a fun and exciting format straight from Hollywood.

LJ: What advice do you have for a beginning poker player?

CG: Never stop learning the game, and always be willing to make changes.

LJ: Why do you think you were selected for the final table of Ladies Night?

CG: I really don't know. I feel honored to have been in the company of the ladies who were selected. These women are the cream of the crop of professional poker players.

LJ: You won a seat in the $25,000 WPT championship event at Bellagio. What do you think of your chances in that event?

CG: As long as I have a seat, I think my chances are great.

LJ: What is it like to play in a televised situation?

CG: It is overwhelming, nerve-wracking, exhilarating, and intrusive. But once the cards are dealt, there is only one thing on my mind … playing poker.

LJ: Tell us a little about what was going through your mind as players were being eliminated and you were getting closer to winning the ladies event?

CG: I felt relief when Jennifer Harman was eliminated by Evelyn Ng. Jennifer was not a player I wanted to be heads up against. The next person to leave was Kathy Liebert. The blinds were $15,000-$30,000, I was in the big blind, and Kathy moved all in for $39,000. Everyone folded to me. I had a 4-3, but had plenty of chips to call the additional $9,000, and I got lucky and knocked her out. The very next hand, I was in the small blind trying to pick up Maureen Feduniak's big blind. I moved all in and she called. I cringed until I saw that she held the 6 5. I think I flopped two pair with my K 8. Maureen flopped a diamond draw, but never improved. So, we were down to threehanded. Annie Duke had the chip lead at this point with about $697,000, Evelyn had $492,000, and I had $311,000. I doubled up against Evelyn with pocket sixes, flopping a set against her A-Q. I won a few more pots, then took over the chip lead.

At this point, I wasn't about to let up on them. Annie took several bad hits, and was down to about $51,000. I moved in with A-Q and got called by Annie, who turned over pocket tens. I flopped two pair and she was gone. "Wow, I am going to win this thing," I was thinking. But after it got heads up, it took about 14 hands before my superaggressive style got me into trouble. I raised all in three times, and got called by Evelyn, who held the best hand. She took over the lead, and then I was thinking, "Wow, I could lose this."

Evelyn had about $1.3 million to my $200,000. I was in a terrible spot at this point. I knew that I had to win a few coin tosses if I was going to win. I was lucky that Evelyn wasn't putting any pressure on me. Once she got the chip lead, she allowed me time and time again to take advantage of her solid play. I got almost even with her, when she got tired of my pushing her around. She called my all-in bet with Q-8; I had A-J, and flopped a full house. Three hands later Evelyn was down to about $100,000. She moved in with the K 3, and I called with A-7 and won. Wow! I did it.