When it comes to the world stage, the nation of Denmark has few players.

Danish author Hans Christian Andersen gained international fame by writing fairy tales and Danish socialite Claus von Bulow gained the same by killing his wife, although his fame might be better classified as infamy.

Now you can add Jesper Hougaard to the list–the very short list of people from Denmark who have captured the attention of the world, for better or for worse.

Hougaard, a 24-year-old professional poker player from Copenhagen, Denmark, has won Event #36 at the 2008 World Series of Poker (WSOP) in Las Vegas, becoming the first Dane to win a WSOP event this year.

In fact, according to WSOP records, he is just the second Dane in history to win a WSOP championship gold bracelet, which is given to winners of WSOP events.

Previously, Jan Sorensen of Odense, Denmark, won a stud tournament at the 2005 WSOP and an Omaha tournament at the 2002 WSOP

Event #36 was a $1,500 buy-in, no-limit Texas hold ‘em tourney with 2,447 entrants, 198 payouts and a total prize pool of about $3.3 million.

For the victory, Hougaard, who says fellow Danish poker pro Gus “The Great Dane” Hansen is his inspiration, wins an inspiring $610,304.

And a bracelet of gold, something which–so far–Hansen hasn’t been able to acquire.

Coming in second was Cody Slaubaugh of Rugby, North Dakota, USA, earning $389,128.

Third was Aaron “The Giant Killer” Kanter of Elk Grove, California, USA, making a killing of $258,862.

Fourth was Dan Wong of Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, saying there’s nothing wrong with $217,110.

Fifth was Doug Middleton of Orlando, Florida, USA, in the middle of the pack and earning $177,028.

Sixth was Justin Wald of Redmond, Washington, USA, earning just $140,286.

Seventh was Rick Solis of Austin, Texas, USA, racking up $106,884.

Eighth was Owen Crowe of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, crowing about earning $81,833.

Ninth was John Shipley of Solihull, England, shipping home $56,782.

Tenth was Jeremy Schofer of Washington, D.C., USA, earning $36,741.

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