Playboy’s opening up the polls to vote for the 2012 Playmate of the Year. We’ve told you about a few of the candidates in the running – Miss April 2011 Jaclyn Swedberg, Miss September 2011 (and former Miss COED) Tiffany Toth, and Miss July 2011 Jessa Hinton, but were you aware there’s a contender named Rainy Day? Yeah, sh*t just got real. Anyway, we’ve gathered their sexiest twitpics and hottest facebook photos for you to peruse. Once you’re done reviewing, head over to playboy.com and vote. Don’t worry you won’t end up on jury duty.

Claire Sinclair, Miss October 2010 was officially named 2011 Playboy Playmate of the Year at the Palms Casino in Vegas Friday night. Unlike in years past, the crowning was prematurely announced a month early on the season finale of the E! show Holly’s World. Hope Dworaczyk was on hand with COED faves Jaime Faith Edmondson and Crystal Harris in addition to Hef, Marston and a slew of other playmates. Fortunately for us, where there are playmates, there are TwitPics. Here is how it all went down.

Playboy announced Thursday that Bethanie Badertscher is the 2011 Cyber Girl of the Year! She was originally Playboy’s Cyber Girl of the Month for June 2010 and now it looks like Bethanie is on to much bigger and better things! While we’re all very proud of her achievement, it wouldn’t be fair not to acknowledge all of the Cyber Girl of the Year winners throughout the years since it’s inception in 2005 (that’s 5 years of sexy right there). All of us at COED would like congratulate Bethanie on this prestigious accolade and to celebrate, hit the jump to see all the previous winners for yourself!

Today’s Miss COED, Marilyn Monroe, was Playboy’s first ever Playmate, though back in December 1953 when the first issue was published, it was known as the “Sweetheart of the Month“. The traditional definition of “playmate” is one who is “a companion at play”. Mr. Hefner‘s version of a companion at play is an attractive female model who is featured in a pictorial that includes nude photos, a centerfold poster, a short bio, and a “Playmate Data Sheet” displaying birthdate, measurements, turn-ons, and turn-offs. This comprehensive feature appears in the centerfold/gatefold of Playboy. But, what makes a Playmate “popular”? Is it her bust, her brains, or her bold personality? Find out after the jump!

On Sunday night, we managed to shake off the fog to catch the unofficial announcement of Playboy’s Playmate of the Year via Twitter. The tweet was then confirmed on E!’s show starring Holly Madison called, “Holly’s World“. Though our money was on Miss January 2010 Jaime Edmondson, PMOY honors went to Miss October 2010 Claire Sinclair, a virtual darkhorse in the competition. To celebrate, we posted a handful of pretty pics from her hottest photo shoots. Today, we’ve got a photo gallery of her sexiest pics from her Facebook album. Check ‘em out after the jump!

Claire Sinclair leaked on E network’s “Holly’s World” Sunday night that she is the 2011 Playboy Playmate of the Year. Although, Playboy has yet to officially announce the most coveted of covergirl titles, the perky, pale, pin-up model spilled the beans to Holly Madison while Holly’s entourage was trash-talking 2008 Playboy PMOY Jayde Nicole. I have to admit we had our money on Heather Rae Young or Jaime Faith Edmondson, but a big COED congrats is due to 2010 Miss October – Claire Sinclair. Great Job!

Miss June 2005 and 2006 Playmate of the Year Kara Monaco turns 28 years young today. The blonde beauty is one of the most popular Playmates according to Google, a member of the Playmate Dancers, and is definitely a “must follow” on Twitter. She’s also been featured on AskMen, Spike.com, Wild Amaginations, and in several issues of Stare Magazine. See her pics after the jump!

When you think of the perfect mate, the dream girl, the woman you’d cut off appendages to meet, what do you picture? Some would say Miss America. Some would opt for Victoria’s Secret or Sports Illustrated model. How about the Playboy Playmate? For decades, the Playmate has been one of the most iconic sex symbols the world over. Right now, Playboy’s asking users to vote for the 2011 Playmate of the Year to see which beautiful Bunny from 2010 is most popular. Will it be Heather Rae Young? Jaime Edmondson? Crystal Harris? Well, we decided to take it a step further by seeing which Playmate of ANY year is the most popular of all-time. How did we do it? Google, of course!

Our next ten most popular playmates feature a twin (and former gf of Hef), one of the hottest Summers ever, an ageless wonder, and a Gorgeous Guess Girl.

#40 Angela Little
Playmate of the Month for August 1998
432,000 results

#39 Holley Ann Dorrough
Playmate of the Month for April 2006
468,000 results

#38 Deanna Brooks
Playmate of the Month for May 1998
480,000… Click to read more

Our next ten most popular playmates feature Hef’s current fiancée, a vampire slayer, a tomb raider, and a Perfect 10!

#30 Crystal Harris
Playmate of the Month for December 2009
518,000 results

#29 Tailor James
Playmate of the Month for June 2003
524,000 results

#28 Buffy Tyler
Playmate of the Month November 2000
524,000 results

#27 Pilar Lastra
Playmate o… Click to read more

Our next ten most popular playmates feature the former host of MTV’s Singled Out and Jim Carrey’s ex-girlfriend, another Gorgeous Guess Girl, and the 2006 Playmate of the Year.

#20 Jenny McCarthy
Playmate of the Month for October 1993
605,000 results

#19 Kara Monaco
Playmate of the Month for June 2005
629,000 results

#18 Heather Carolin
Playmate of the Mont… Click to read more

The top ten most popular playmates feature the first Playmate ever, a Baywatch star who’s not fond of airport security, a woman with one of the top sideboobs of all-time who’s also been on Dancing With The Stars, and the Playmate who’s been on Playboy’s cover more than anyone else.

#10 Marilyn Monroe (NSFW)

Playmate of the Month for December 1953
931,000 resul… Click to read more

Cyber Monday was created about five years ago by The National Retail Foundation to help boost online sales the week after Black Friday, the biggest holiday shopping day of the year. In previous years, we offered you The Complete Guide To Online Christmas Shopping and The Greatest Online Gift Guide, but this year we’ve compiled photo galleries of every single Playboy.com Cyber Girl of the Month from the past five years. It’ s the gift that keeps on giving, so subscribe to Playboy.com’s Cyber Club to cure those Monday blues!

Pro athletes make crazy amounts of money. Curious how your salary stands up to some of the best? Check out the ESPN Salary Crunch. Here are a few examples of how some common occupations measure up against some of the greatest pro athletes of today.

These days, pretty much everyone is on Twitter. But most of the time, all you get is the occasional funny link and a whole lot of “I’m eating lunch!” So instead of the same ol’ nonsense, spice up your Twitter feed with some of the hottest women around: Playboy Playmates. Sure, they’re probably just as boring as the rest of us, but at least you stand a good chance at seeing a TwitPic of their boobs!