Cycalona Gowen has perhaps the most interesting name without needing to come up with a nickname at the professional poker tables. Cycalona was named for a major storm that ravaged her home town when she was born. Most often though, she is known as Clonie among friends and the poker world. Gowen has certainly led an interesting life when it comes to her teen years all through her poker profession. Like many who tend to get into poker she has lived in several different places, but mostly along the southern edge of the USA. Before she became known for her poker prowess Gowen was a star athlete with the high jump and basketball. She also earned Miss Teen in McAlester, Oklahoma before she turned to poker.
Gowen got her start in an interesting fashion in terms of her poker playing. By this time she was in Texas dating a young man whose father enjoyed the game of poker. It meant that she was often hanging around the young man and father, so she started to pick up the game. Pretty soon it seemed like fun to head from Texas to Louisiana where she could enter some legal games on the weekends. It took a while for Gowen to gain notice in the professional world though. It was not until 2003 that she managed to make a splash and even this was not in the USA.
Gowen’s first claim to fame came at the Costa Rica World Poker Tour where she finished in the top ten. It was the ladies night game, so she is not one of the female players who have decided to get in on the men’s club action. The broadcast of the event certainly helped her gain national notice though.
It has meant an interesting career for her and one that is not always typical. Some players just remain at the tables. They do so in order to gain more fame, money and to enjoy the game they love. Gowen on the other hand has also enjoyed being a guest speaker for a variety of poker challenges including the Women’s UK Open for Poker. Gowen is also a writer in the poker arena. Some of the men have also taken to such things like writing books or magazine articles about their various poker experiences. Others have been known to be poets, so perhaps the creativity poker requires also lends many to become professional writers in addition to earning thousands at the poker tables like Gowen has managed to do.
It may have taken until the later part of the 1990s and early 2000s, but women have broken into poker with a lot of success. Mimi Rogers is another who has managed to get a name for herself though mostly through her acting career rather than as a professional player. Clonie Gowen does continue to play in tournaments and will most likely add to her tournament winnings in years to come. Like others she has made television appearances as a player and commentator. She has also travelled to get into many of the available games around the world.