Event 3 - $1,500 Omaha Hi/Lo 8-or-better | 2009 World Series of Poker

05-31-2009 18:44 UTC-12

Omaha-8 Guru?

Donnie Peters

Thang Luu is steadily applying pressure to his opponent Ed Smith, especially from the button. Luu is raising almost every button to attack from position. Smith has dropped to just 1.3 million chips. Luu has over double him with approximately 2.9 million.

Is Luu going to repeat? This is already his third top-two finish in three years... amazing!

Tags: Ed Smith Thang Luu

05-31-2009 18:47 UTC-12

Another One For Luu

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Donnie Peters

After Ed Smith limped his button, Thang Luu raised. Smith made the call.

The flop came down {A-Diamonds}

and Luu led with a bet. Smith came along.

The turn brought the {10-Hearts}

and checks from both players. The river was the {Q-Spades}

and Luu fired. Smith mucked his hand and Luu moved to three million chips.

Tags: Ed Smith Thang Luu

05-31-2009 19:01 UTC-12

Luu Cripples Smith

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Donnie Peters

On a flop of {A-Diamonds}

, Thang Luu bet out and Ed Smith called. The turn brought the {J-Spades}

and Luu stayed on the gas petal with another bet. Smith called again.

After the river fell the {9-Spades}

, Luu backed down with a check. Smith checked behind.

Luu rolled over {K-Clubs}

for the winning hand after Smith showed {K-Hearts}

.

With that crippled blow, Smith is left with only slightly over 100,000 chips.

Tags: Ed Smith Thang Luu

05-31-2009 19:04 UTC-12

Smith Doubles and Stays Alive

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Donnie Peters

With his last 100,000 or so, Ed Smith stuck it in preflop and Thang Luu made the call.

Showdown
Smith: {A-Spades}

Luu:

The flop was big for Smith when it landed {A-Diamonds}

to give him a full house. Luu had outs to a low, but it wouldn't be after the turn and rive came the {Q-Clubs}

followed by the {K-Hearts}

.

With that pot, Smith was able to double to a little over 200,000 chips.

Tags: Ed Smith Thang Luu

05-31-2009 19:06 UTC-12

Chop, Chop, Chop

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Donnie Peters

Severely short stacked, Ed Smith has been getting his money all in preflop for the past few hands. Thang Luu was up to the challenge each time, but could only muster enough of a hand to score half of the pot. Smith has been taking the other half opposite Luu to stay alive.

Tags: Ed Smith Thang Luu

05-31-2009 19:13 UTC-12

Ed Smith Eliminated in 2nd Place ($162,110)

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Donnie Peters

Ed Smith limped in from the button and left himself with only a tiny bit more than one small bet left. Thang Luu opted to try and get his opponent all in and raised. Smith just called with a few thousand behind.

The flop came down {Q-Diamonds}

and Luu stuck in the money to put Smith all in. Smith went with his hand, saying, "All right, let's go."

Showdown
Luu: {Q-Clubs}

Smith:

The turn brought the {5-Hearts}

and the river the {10-Diamonds}

and that was it for Smith. He would be eliminated in second place, earning $162,110 for his efforts.

On the other hand, the winner, Thang Luu, completed an amazing feat by winning the event for the second year in a row! Don't forget, in 2007 he also placed second in this event!

Tags: Ed Smith Thang Luu

05-31-2009 19:27 UTC-12

Congratulations to Thang Luu - Event #3 Champion ($263,135)

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Donnie Peters

Champion Thang Luu does it for the second time!

It's been a year of records so far at the 2009 WSOP and only fitting that Event #3, $1,500 Omaha 8-or-Better, concluded with another history-making performance. Last year's defending champion, Thang Luu, eclipsed a record-setting field of 918 entrants to capture his second gold bracelet! Not only is this Luu's second bracelet, it's his second in the same event in consectutive years.

Back in 2007, Luu took second place in this same event for $147,726. Last year, Luu topped that performance with a win in the same event for $243,342 in what was the largest Omaha tournament ever played. This year, Luu came out on top of a larger field than last year and earned himself $263,135. In total, Thang's earned over $650,000 for all three of those finishes! As Nolan Dalla mentioned, "This feat has only been equalled by Johnny Chan back in the 1980s."

Luu was the chip leader after Day 1 finished up and as of yesterday, claimed that he was feeling really good about this tournament. He was never really the big stack at the final table, but drove the action and picked his spots well. When play got down to three handed, Luu simply took over and began crushing the competition. From there, it was smooth sailing.

Congratulations to Thang Luu for his win and amazing back-to-back-to-back performances!

Tags: Ed Smith Johnny Chan Thang Luu

Event 3 - $1,500 Omaha Hi/Lo 8-or-better

Day 3 Completed