Skye Chen Lives A Dream As 2026 WSOP Ladies Champion

There aren’t many people who can say they correctly called off their tournament life heads-up for a World Series of Poker bracelet with ace-high, and won. Skye Chen may well be the only person to do so in her first ever WSOP cash.

Chen won the 2026 WSOP Ladies Championship, outlasting a field of 1,475 entrants in the annual $1,000 buy-in event. She defeated Aubrey Williams in a wild, back-and-forth heads-up battle in which Chen called off a river all-in bet with ace-ten high on an unpaired board with no possible flushes and only one possible straight.

Williams fought back from the brink multiple times over the course of the heads-up match, and twice had a chance to win the tournament in an all-in pot with most of the chips in play at stake.

But Chen, a software engineer from Northern California, won the three biggest pots that mattered. Chen’s first ever WSOP cash netted her $194,630, and a special edition of the 2026 WSOP bracelet encrusted with pink jewels. Williams, a WSOP Circuit ring winner from Pennsylvania, earned a career-best $129,692 as the runner-up.

“It’s always been a dream of mine as a poker player to get a bracelet,” Chen told WSOP’s Natalie Bode. “But I absolutely did not expect this on the second try ever.”

Caitlin Comeskey, who rose to prominence as a creative content maker in the poker world, posted her own career-best result with a fourth-place finish worth $67,735.

A Changing of the Guard

The 2026 WSOP Ladies Championship reached its final table of nine late in the evening on day 3. What was once 1,475 players was left to a single table competing for almost half of the $1,298,000 prize pool.

Three players went out prior to the end of day 3 action. 2022 WSOP Ladies Championship winner and Onyx High Roller Series participant Jessica Teusl finished in ninth place ($16,668). Vlogger and tournament veteran Lexy Gavin-Mather lost a coin flip to Chen, whose pocket sevens flopped a set, to place eighth ($21,497).

Heading into the final day of action, six players’ hopes of a WSOP remained. Emily Spencer held a significant chip lead, with Williams and Comeskey starting day 4 as the short stacks.

Chen claimed the chip lead from Spencer early on, and the day soon went sideways for the former top stack. Before things went completely off the rails, though, Victoria Ailloud’s tournament run ended. The French player was the lone non-American among the final six players, and she’d slipped to the shortest stack by the time she made her stand. Ailloud’s pocket sixes went up against Williams’ A♦K♣, and an A♠ spelled Ailloud’s doom in sixth place ($37,192).

Shortly thereafter, Chen and Spencer went to war preflop. Chen opened under the gun, Spencer three-bet from the button, and Chen four-bet shoved. With fewer chips than Chen, Spencer called all in with A♦J♠. Chen had her dominated with A♥K♦, and the board offered no help. Spencer, whose day started with dreams of a bracelet, settled for fifth place ($49,874) instead.

The First Big Call-Down

Caitlin Comeskey

Comeskey, who had staged a comeback and laddered a couple of spots, was the next player at risk. After Williams opened on the button, Comeskey three-bet all in for 16 big blinds, and Lisa Teebagy woke up with A♠A♣ in the big blind, and called. Williams got out of the way, and Comeskey needed a lot of help as she tabled pocket fours.

She seemingly got everything she might have dreamed of on a 8♥7♣4♣ flop. But running clubs on the turn and river gave Teebagy the club flush, and Comeskey’s hopes of a first bracelet in this event were dashed in fourth place ($67,735).

Williams soon closed the gap between her, Teebagy, and Chen three-handed. Then Teebagy overtook both of her remaining opponents to claim the chip lead for herself. Williams surged into a massive lead when she called Chen all the way down with ace-king high on a 10♣9♣7♥10♦2♠ board. Chen suddenly had just over 10 big blinds, and Williams had the inside track to the bracelet.

Chen fought back, though, doubling through Teebagy and then eliminating her in quick succession. After pocket kings held for Chen, her pocket fives battled K♦10♦ with Teebagy’s tournament life on the line. By the river, Teebagy made a Broadway straight, but it was second-best to Chen’s full house. Teebagy was out in third place ($93,149).

Chen’s Revenge

The heads-up match between Williams and Chen started with Williams holding a nearly 2:1 lead. Williams extended that lead early on, only for Chen to close the gap, leading up to one of the most memorable hands of the 2026 WSOP thus far.

With the big blind at 300,000, Williams limped the button, Chen raised to 1.1 million, and Williams called. On a J♥8♥3♠ flop, both players checked. The turn was the 2♣, Chen checked, Williams bet 1.65 million, and Chen called. The 7♣ fell on the river. Williams considered her options for a considerable stretch, and then opted to shove all in.

As a break loomed, Chen agonized over her decision for several minutes. Eventually, with her tournament life on the line, Chen called with A♣10♣. Williams showed Q♦9♦ for a busted straight draw, and Chen suddenly had a chip lead of almost 5:1.

Williams doubled back into contention, with a flopped pair of eights against Chen’s flopped pair of fives. She grinded her way back into the lead, and with the tournament in reach, she was five cards away from a win in a coin-flip situation. Williams had pocket eights against Chen’s A♣10♦, but Chen found an A♥ on the flop to take her biggest lead of the day.

With just a few big blinds left, Williams doubled up three separate times and then reclaimed the lead once more. On the final hand, with almost all of the chips in play, there was one more race to be run. Chen’s pocket fours, against Williams’ A♣5♣. Williams picked up more outs on each street, but a 9♦9♥8♦Q♠10♦ final board kept Chen’s pair of fours best, and that was it.

Final Table Results

Photo credit: WSOP / Alicia Skillman, Monique Marestein