It was a chance for a hugely overlooked part of the poker community to shine and, when given the chance, the women of poker put on a great show. Friday night at the World Poker Tour World Championship festivities, the WPT Ladies’ Championship took center stage (and streaming rights) as the season-ending schedule for the tour played at Wynn Las Vegas. The six-handed final table had all the drama you might want as Lisa Costello emerged victorious to capture the WPT Ladies’ Championship.
Two-Time Nevada Champion Starts with Lead…
The six-handed final table was set with the elimination of Alida Veilu in seventh place, with Aylar Lie doing the honors with pocket Jacks against Veilu’s A♦ 2♦ on a nine-high board. That knockout pushed Lie into the middle of the pack of the final six, but she was facing some formidable foes ahead of her. Kathy Stahl (2.255 million), Ashley Sleeth (3.32 million), and two-time Nevada State Ladies’ Champion Chris Read (3.675 million) were all ahead of her. At the start, only Costello (1.455 million) and Ada Lang (1.345 million) were behind Lie.
Lie would use that stack built from the Veilu knockout to challenge Read in the early action. On Hand #12, Read responded to a Lie raise with a three-bet of 260,000. Lie was undaunted in plopping her remaining stack to the center, putting Read in the pressure cooker. Talking to her tablemate (“I have a nice pocket pair,” Read noted), Read would eventually let the hand go as Lie climbed the leaderboard.
Read showed why she is the defending Nevada state champ, climbing to nearly four million chips after taking a pot from Costello with a river raise. However, Costello didn’t stop firing chips, earning a double up through Stahl when her A-10 found an Ace on the flop against Stahl’s pocket tens. Read responded by performing the first knockout of the official final table, taking down Lang in a race situation after the board four-flushed.
It was Costello’s turn to respond, and she did so by going to the lead. Through the next five hands, Costello slowly added chips to her stack, eventually passing Read. That lead only grew once Costello took out Lie in fifth place when Lie’s K-Q off suit couldn’t catch up with Costello’s A-J (especially after Costello flopped two pair).
Now stacked with over six million chips, Costello could afford to sit back and see who would survive the carnage. Stahl would earn a big double through Read (with Stahl dominating the hand from start to finish with Big Slick against Read’s Q-J), but Sleeth would do the major damage to Read. After a raise from Sleeth to 200K on Hand #71, Read put her to the test for her entire stack with an all-in move. Sleeth made the call, and the hands were turned up.
Read (big blind): A♣ Q♣
Sleeth (cutoff): pocket nines
Needing to dodge Aces, Queens, and clubs, Sleeth was fine with the Jack-high board that brought no help for Read. After the chips were counted, Sleeth now rose as the challenger for Costello as Read plunged to the basement; she would depart in fourth place to Stahl a few hands later but, as she commented on her Facebook page, “I came back from two big blinds on Day 2…I’m happy with the outcome.”
But Costello Brings It Home
The battle wasn’t quite over yet, however. Stahl would get a triple-up during three-handed play to stay viable in the tournament, while Sleeth earned a double through Costello to bring her back closer to the pack. Costello righted the ship, however, as the tournament final table hit the century mark in hands when Costello’s hooks (pocket Jacks) outlasted Stahl’s A-K to bring about heads-up play.
Costello held more than a 2:1 lead against Sleeth (9.675 million versus 4.05 million) and, on the first hand of heads-up, wasted no time in furthering her dominance. After a button raise by Sleeth, Costello put the pressure on with a three-bet out of the big blind to 800K. Sleeth called to see a 7-4-3 flop and, after a continuation bet from Costello worth more than one million chips, made the call again. A Queen on the turn brought an all-in from Costello and a hasty retreat from Sleeth, which also cost Sleeth a healthy stack of chips.
Sleeth would get a double on the next hand, but it wasn’t enough to get her back in the game. Costello consistently put pressure on Sleeth and, over the next ten hands, wore down the stack of Sleeth. On the final hand, Sleeth would limp in and, holding to her previous play, Costello dropped a 625K bet in the center of the table. Sleeth made her stand, pushing her stack in, and Costello immediately called her all-in.
Costello (big blind): A-Q
Sleeth (button): A-10
The flop teased Sleeth, coming down 9-7-6 to give her more outs to a straight draw, but they would not come home on the King turn. It also failed to materialize once the five hit the river, earning Lisa Costello the WPT Ladies’ Championship.
1. Lisa Costello, $85,297
2. Ashley Sleeth, $57,069
3. Kathy Stahl, $43,686
4. Chris Read, $34,220
5. Aylar Lei, $26,480
6. Ada Lang, $20,155
7. Alida Veilu, $15,128
8. Michelle Gibson, $11,058
