Do you want to go Dutch?

For the first time at the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) in Las Vegas, a Dutchman has won a tournament.

He is Marc Naalden, a 40-year-old professional poker player who was born in Roosendaal, the Netherlands, and now lives in nearby Antwerp, Belgium.

He won 2009 WSOP Event #38, a limit Texas hold ‘em tournament that had a $2,000 buy-in, an $811,720 prize pool, 446 entrants and 45 payouts.

For the victory, Naalden earns his first WSOP championship gold bracelet and $190,770.

The runnerup in the tourney was Steve Cowley of Richmond, Virginia, USA, collecting $117,902.

Coming in third was Ian Johns of Seattle, Washington, USA, copping $77,576.

Names of note finishing in the money in the event include Phil “Poker Brat” Hellmuth Jr. in 17th place, Daniel “Kid Poker” Negreanu in 26th and Alex “The Mad Russian” Kravchenko in 35th.

In addition to being the first Dutch poker player to win a gold bracelet at this year’s WSOP, Naalden is only the second Dutch player in WSOP history to win a bracelet.

At last year’s WSOP, Dutchman Rob Hollink also won a limit Texas hold ‘em tournament.

After his victory, Naalden told reporters at a press conference: “I stopped working when I was 31. I decided I wanted to become a professional poker player. I found a new career in poker. The year 2005 was the first year I really did it full-time. Before that, I was mostly a recreational player.

“I play a lot of limit hold ‘em online. I also play in tournaments. So that helped me. I also travel the European circuit and I play. But I think playing in the cash games on the Internet helped me the most.” ? Forget the tulips, the windmills and the wooden shoes.

The Netherlands is getting known for poker.

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