The Netherlands, world-famous for windmills, wooden shoes and legal marijuana shops, now has a new claim to fame.

Rob Hollink.

Who?

Rob Hollink, winner of Event #30 at the 2008 World Series of Poker (WSOP) in Las Vegas.

He is the first winner in the 38-year history of the WSOP from the Netherlands.

For the big win, he receives a really big Dutch treat of nearly half a million bucks–$496,931.

Hollink, whose name sounds like Holland, another name for the Netherlands, is from the tiny town of Groningen.

He is 46 years old and this, obviously, is his first WSOP championship gold bracelet.

The event was a $10,000 buy-in, limit Texas hold ‘em tournament that had 218 participants, 27 payouts and a total prize pool of about $2 million.

Runnerup in the tourney was Jerrod Ankenman of Avon, Connecticut, USA, earning $307,380.

Third was Tam Hang of Seattle, Washington, USA, earning $194,674.

Fourth was Aaron Katz, also of Seattle, earning $158,813.

Fifth was J.C. Tran of Sacramento, California, USA, earning $128,075.

Sixth was Brock Parker of Silver Springs, Maryland, USA, earning $102,460.

Seventh was Andy Bloch of Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, earning $81,968.

He is the same Andy Bloch who years ago headed a team of MIT students that counted cards and won millions of dollars playing blackjack in casinos around the world, before they were found out.

Their antics were immortalized in the movie “21,” that came out earlier this year.

Eighth was Cy Jassinowsky of Johannesburg, South Africa, earning $66,599.

Ninth was Chris Vitch of San Diego, California, USA, earning $51,230.

Tenth was Eric Buchman of Valley Stream, New York, USA, earning $35,861.

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