Congratulations to Thang Luu - Event #3 Champion ($263,135) | 2009 World Series of Poker

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