This is bigger than Oktoberfest, and it’s only July!

So break out the bratwurst, the sauerkraut and a tall stein of Bavarian beer and celebrate.

After failing to win any of the first 50 events at the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) in Las Vegas, Germany has now won two in a row.

Joh Carsten of Reutlingen, Germany broke the skein for Deutschland when he won 2009 WSOP Event #51, a no-limit Texas hold ‘em tournament that earned him $664,426.

Now Jorg Peisert, 45, an investment counselor from Dusseldorf, Germany has won 2009 WSOP Event #52.

Event #52 was a no-limit Texas hold ‘em triple chance tournament that had a buy-in of $3,000, a prize pool of about $2.4 million, a total of 854 entrants and payouts to the top 81 finishers.

The victory earns Peisert $506,800 and his first career WSOP championship gold bracelet.

The runnerup in the tourney was Jason Dewitt of Granger, Indiana, USA, collecting $313,227.

Taking third was Benjamin Gilbert of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, picking up $205,180.

Names of note finishing in the money in the event include Mike Caro in 23rd place, Antonio “The Magician” Esfandiari in 24th and Kathy Liebert in 61st.

At a press conference after the victory, Peisert, in typical German fashion, spoke of his domination of his opponents.

“I am very proud to win the tournament,” he said. “It’s hard work. But at the final table, I think I was able to dominate the play.

“I wanted to wait and let the short stacks bust out,” he continued. “And then, I got to where I was pressing more. It worked. It’s a dream come true. I am very happy.

“Last year, we (Germany) won three gold bracelets. This year, we waited until the last days to win.”

So what exactly is a “triple chance” tournament?

According to a WSOP spokesman, “Rebuy tournaments were discontinued starting in 2009. A different format was introduced called the ‘triple chance’ tournament, which provides all players with an equal opportunity to win, irrelevant of bankroll size or level of financial commitment. ‘Triple chance’ tournaments debuted in 2008, as the two biggest pot-limit Omaha tournaments operated under this format.

“In ‘triple chance’ tournaments, players are given a starting stack, plus two lammers, which can be used to rebuy more chips. All players are given the same number of lammers. Some players chose to rebuy for the maximum number of chips immediately, preferring a large stack from the start.

“Other players prefer to minimize the risk of going bust by using the lammers to re-enter the tournament with a new stack. Since all players theoretically begin with 9,000 in chips, all starters were actually given 3,000 in chips with two lammers available, which be used to trade in for 3,000 and 3,000 in chips at any time.”

(E-mail Tom Somach at tomsomach@yahoo.com.)