Retired AF Force Sergeant Lorraine Bane
Credits “Instinct” for Win in Ladies Event
Council Bluffs, IA--Lorraine "Momma" Bane, a retired Air Force staff sergeant and now a homemaker, is the winner of event 10 in the WSOP Circuit stop at Horseshoe Council Bluffs, the ladies event co-sponsored by the High Heels Poker Tour. Her win brought her $7,438, a striking pendant trophy, and a High Heels trophy. Bane, 50, credited her win to her playing style, which goes on instinct and which served her very well tonight.
In the Air Force, she was an environmental systems technician while her husband, retired after 26 years in the Air Force, now is a civilian working with that same branch of service. She has two sons, one a Marine serving in Japan.
Bane, who began playing poker in a free Fantasy poker league five years ago, has a $3,000 win for second in a WSOP satellite, and several local poker room cashes. This is her first Circuit. She also likes to cook, fish and hunt, and does volunteer work for the Red Cross.
The final table started with blinds of 800-1,600 with 200 antes, 30 minutes left in the round. Leading with 63,500 chips was Kim Strong.
Here were the starting chip counts:
Seat 1. Brooke Rardin 14,300
Seat 2. Kathy Hartwick 45,800
Seat 3. Marlene Toplin 11,400
Seat 4. Lisa Reck 7,500
Seat 5. Jeanette Levitt 9,500
Seat 6. Lorraine Bane 24,000
Seat 7. Julene Anderson 9,100
Seat 8. Kim Strong 63,500
Seat 9. Rebecca Dallam 21,000
Lisa Reck was shortest in chips, and she moved in with 6c-5c. Brooke Rardin made a reluctant call and was surprised to find her K-5 was the better hand. The board came 9-8-2-J-10, and our first lady departed in 9th place, which paid $620.
Reck, 43, is from Ottumwa, Iowa where she is a legal secretary. A grandmother, she began playing poker as a child with her family, and this is her first Circuit.
A couple of hands later Jeanette Levitt moved in with pocket aces and got a call from Julene Anderson, who had A-K. A board of Q-9-6-7-A didn't rescueAnderson, and she took out $826 for eighth.
Anderson, 48, is a registered nurse from Hastings, Nebraska. She began playing poker seven years ago, and this is her first Circuit. Anderson, who is a cancer survivor, plays frequently with her mother, and her poker highlight is "bluffing any man out of his hand." She also enjoys hunting, fishing, bowling and golf.
The same hands cropped up immediately after. This time Marlene Toplin had the bullets as she doubled through against Rardin, who had big slick.
Blinds were now 1,000-2,000 Next to check out was Kathy Hartwick. She pushed in holding K-Q and was called by Rebecca Dallam, who had As-Js. A board of J-8-7-4-3 finished Hartwick, who went home with $1,033 for seventh.
Hartwick, 57, runs a farm in Bloomfield, Iowa with her husband. She's been into poker for three years, watching it on TV and playing at Prairie Meadows where she has two or three small final table cashes. Her other hobbies are reading and cooking and spending time with her two granddaughters.
On the next hand, Rardin, all in with A-Q against Kim Strong's A-K, thought she was out until she realized the river card gave her a straight. She did go out a few hands later, though, holding Qd-Jd. Rebecca Dallam had A-J and finished her when an ace hit the river. Sixth paid $1,240
Rardin, 33, is from Tierra Verde, Florida, and owns a mortgage business. She learned poker from watching TV and this is her second Circuit.
As play went on, Kim Strong learned a painful lesson in what to say at the poker table. With the board showing 8-4-10-5, Bane bet 12,000 and Strong called. Bane then said she would go all in blind on the river, which brought a king. Strong said "I have to call"...and then added "I think" a few seconds later. "I didn't say I called, did I?" she asked, after Bane turned over Q-8, for a pair, to her A-7. Yes you did, she was informed, and she had to hand over most of her chips.
A long time passed, with several all-in escapes, before another player went out when it was past 10 p.m. and blinds were now 2,000-4,000. Marlene "Bis" Toplin, who had managed to double up several times, finally went out with A-K versus Banes' pocket jacks. A flop of J-8-5 gave Banes a set, and Toplin took home $1,446 for fifth.
Toplin, 52, is an IT project manager from Davenport, Iowa. She learned poker from her two sons (aged 25 and 28) and has played two Circuits. She won a second-chance event last year and cashed in several tournaments at Caesars Palace. She also wrote that she got engaged at Christmas.
Jeanette Levitt went out fourth. She moved in with pocket 9s and got a call from Strong, who held As-3s. A third spade came on the turn, and a fourth on the river for good measure, and Strong's nut flush took the pot as Levitt took home $1,653.
Levitt, 43, is a stay at home mom from Chicago who learned poker from her husband Steve. Her other hobby is tennis.
The tournament then got heads-up after Bane moved in with Ah-9h and was called by Rebecca Dallam, who had Ad-5c. The board came 10-9-6-A-K, and Dallam collected $2,273 for third.
Dallam is a bar manager from Shawnee, Kansas. She learned poker from her "wonderful fiance, has entered 10 Circuits, and her other hobby is dog training.
Heads-up, Bane had somewhat over 100,000 to about 85,000 for Bane. Bane increased her lead, then things evened up when Short, all in flopped a queen to her Q-10 to outrun Bane's pocket 9s.
Then, on the final hand, Bane moved in on a flop of 9-5-2. "If I call, you show?" Short probed. "You need to make up your own mind," Bane replied. Short did call, with 6h-5h, and was in poor shape against Bane's J-9. A king and then a 10 didn't help, and Bane's paired 9 ended the tournament a little past 1 a.m.
Short, winning $4,132 for second, is from Glencoe, Minnesota and works in sales. She has five children and four grandsons, with another on the way, and her age is "29 and holding." She started playing hold'em 2-1/2 years ago when she went to Vegas on a business trip. Three months after returning, she almost quit because she couldn't win. But then she began to win two or three tournaments a month. ít was a great ride and I realized how great poker was. I've been hooked ever since." --Max Shapiro
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