WPT Ladies Champion Lisa Costello

For Lisa Costello, something flipped around the time of the dinner break on Day 2 of the 2023 World Poker Tour Ladies Championship at Wynn Las Vegas. She had just lost a big coinflip to Ashley Sleeth and went off to dinner with just five big blinds in her stack.

But everything turned on its head once play resumed. A triple-up triggered a rush, and then Costello found herself head-to-head in a key pot against the most accomplished player in the field, Kathy Liebert. They got all in, and Liebert was at risk with pocket queens to Costello’s ace-king. A standard showdown had an electric runout that brought out a response from everyone in the field; a jack-high flop, followed by a queen to give Liebert a set. And then a ten on the river to flip it to Costello, with a straight.