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Clonie Gowen Takes Down World Poker Open Championship
Wed, Oct 29th, 2008 @ 12:00am
On Sunday, 107 players arrived in Tunica, MS, to take part in the World Poker Open Championship, creating a prize pool of $508,950. Only the final table of nine would get paid and Clonie Gowen led the field as they began final table play at 2 p.m. Tuesday.
Final table setup:
Blake Huff got his chips in on the turn with a flush draw and it didn't come through for him, so he was the first to go. He finished in 9th-place, earning $15,269. Blake is single, 27-years old, and hails from Beebe, Arkansas. He's a boat dealer by day and this was his first major tournament cash.
Barry Hatcher got his last chips in good with Ace-high versus King-high, but a King hit the board. He finished in 8th-place, earning $20,358. Barry is a 36-year-old from Baton Rouge, LA. He's married with one child, and self employed. This was his first major tournament cash.
Jim Peanick ran his short stack into pocket Aces and finished in 7th-place, earning $25,448. Jim is from St. Charles, MO, where he works as a general contractor. He's 52 and married with four children. He played in the Ante Up for Africa tournament this year, but this was his first major tournament cash.
Brandon Jarrett semi-bluffed all-in on the flop with a gutshot and got called down by Clonie, who had top pair. No gutterball for Brandon and he finished in 6th-place, earning $30,537. Brandon is 31 and lives in Cartersville, GA, with his wife and three children. He's a part-time consultant in Network Solutions and won event #2 at the Beau Rivage back in August, good for $41,000.
Michael 'Carwash' Schneider would have been gone earlier in the day if he had not caught a two-outer to survive an all-in. Karma paid him back when it delivered a three-outer to Clonie who he had dominated. Michael finished in 4th-place, earning $40,716. Michael is 41 years old and from Covington, GA. Married with three children, he lists them as his greatest accomplishment outside of poker.
Kirby Brewer got his chips in good, but another three-outer hit to send the pot the other way. Kirby finished in 3rd-place, earning $61,074. Kirby is from St. Louis, MO, and has been a professional poker player for five years. He cashed twice at the WSOP this summer and has over $100,000 in lifetime tournament earnings. This was his biggest single cash to date.
Clonie had the chip lead, about 3-to-2, at the beginning of heads-up play against BJ McBrayer. Heads-up play lasted almost two hours and BJ took the chip lead at one point after doubling up with pocket Jacks against Clonie's AQ. But Clonie never gave up and battled back into the lead, grinding away at BJ's stack. She had him out-chipped about 4-to-1 when he moved in over the top of her opening raise. She called him down and showed him pocket Aces. His QT suited was unable to overcome and it was done.
Clonie Gowen finished in 1st-place, earning $183,224, plus a $10,000 seat in the WPT event at the Beau Rivage in January 2009, and the gold and diamond WPO bracelet. BJ McBrayer finished in 2nd-place, earning $96,701.
Clonie Gowen is a 36-year-old mother of two and professional poker player from Dallas, TX. She's won three Poker After Dark titles, but her first major tournament win came this summer at the Bellagio Cup IV when she won the $5,000 buy-in No Limit event and over $437,000. This was her second major event win and will put her lifetime earnings close to one million dollars.
BJ McBrayer is from Tuscaloosa, AL. He's only 26 years old and has been playing poker professionally for three years. He has over $57,000 in tournament earnings and two small event wins, but this was his largest cash to date.
The exclusive live coverage blog from the WPO final table can be found here.
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