The World Poker Tour (WPT) Prime Amsterdam, hosted by the Holland Casino, unfolded its second tournament of the 2024 WPT Prime season, surpassing all expectations and previous records. Last year’s event drew an already impressive crowd of exactly 1,000 entrants, generating a €970,000 prize pool. However, this year’s Main Event saw a significant leap, with a record-breaking 1,340 entries over four Day 1 flights in the €1,100 WPT Prime Amsterdam Championship.
Remarkable turnout, highlighted by the growing popularity of the WPT Prime series, means players are fighting for bigger prize pools as €208,095 prize was reserved for the champion, along with a $10,400 seat at the WPT World Championship in December at the Wynn, Las Vegas.
If last year’s trophy went to Germany, the 2024 trophy remained in the Netherlands, thanks to the outstanding performance of Rutger Hennen who scooped up the first place prize and a WPT Prime title. Hennen faced off against Maksym Klopotok in a marathon heads-up: “It was a very nice three days of poker and a long heads-up. I lost an all-in five times, but the sixth time I did win.”
This is Hennen’s by far the biggest win of his career thus far, as he only recorded a handful of results since 2011, according to the HendonMob. Two of them were in WPT events: “I bubbled the WPTDeepstacks Amsterdam final table in 2018 and came 42nd next year, but now it finally happened.” The newly crowned WPT Prime champions is eagerly awaiting WPT World Championship in December with some high ambitions: “I want to win that one too.”
2024 WPT Prime Amsterdam Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
| 1 |  Rutger Hennen | Netherlands | €208,095* |
| 2 |  Maksym Klopotok | Ukraine | €138,746 |
| 3 |  Robbie Schiffbauer | United States | €102,680 |
| 4 | Vasyl Vasylyshyn | Ukraine | €76,456 |
| 5 | Jeffrey Jol | Netherlands | €57,940 |
| 6 |  Matin Talebi | Denmark | €44,188 |
| 7 |  Patrik Papanek | France | €34046 |
| 8 |  Denis Karakashi | Italy | €26,506 |
| 9 | Raoul Van Wersch | Netherlands | €20,853 |
2024 WPT Prime Amsterdam Final Table Recap
Twelve hopefuls returned to the felt for the final day of the 2024 WPT Prime Amsterdam Championship. Three players needed to go out before the final table formed.
Vasyl Vasylyshyn was a big chip leader with more than 200 big blinds to his name, while Hennen and Klopotok were in the middle of a pack. Patrik Papanek started the final table as the only real short stack, but he managed a quick double up and then he was the one to eliminate the first player. Raoul van Wersch’s pocket jacks were no match for Papanek’s pocket queens.
Next one to go was Denis Karakashi who was forced all-in on a small blind, after Vasylyshyn left him on fumes while flopping a set of kings and Karakashi couldn’t get away from his top pair ace.
Papanek’s run ended in seventh place with K♦Q♥ against A♣K♠ of Jeffrey Jol. Both players went all-in preflop and flop 4♥J♣9♦ had some saving possibilities for Papanek, but turn A♥ and Q♠ sealed the deal for the Frenchman.
Almost 100 hands and four hours of play was needed before another player bowed out. Short-stacked Martin Tabeli went all-in with pocket threes and both Vasylyshyn and Hennen completed the bet. Board ran out 7♠6♥2♥8♥9♠ and both players checked until the river when Hennen bet and Vasylyshyn folded. Hennen showed a straight with K♦10♠ and Talebi was out in sixth place. Hennen found another target in Jeffrey Jol, who moved all-in with A♦J♦ from the hijack and found no help against Hennen’s A♣K♠.
At this point Hennen began to distance himself from the rest of the pack, while Klopotok was teetering on the edge with a mere six big blinds. But his incredible six consecutive wins bolstered his stack to a healthier level again.
Next player to hit the rail was once chip leader Vasylyshyn in a classic pocket jacks against ace-king hand of Hennen. Robert Schiffbauer was the shortest stack and he happily took the money ladder at this point, as his ran concluded few minutes later. Hennen, holding 6♦3♣, put him all-in on a big blind that saw Schiffbauer call with J♣10♦. Flop came 4♠5♦5♣ for Hennen’s straight draw that completed on the turn with 2♦ and only two players remain.
Starting the heads-up battle with an enormous 7:1 chip advantage, Hennen seemed poised for a swift victory over Klopotok. Yet the fight extended for many hours with Ukrainian doubling up five times. However, the sixth time was the charm for the Dutch, going all-in with 7♦7♥ against Klopotok’s A♠8♣. The board ran out 5♦9♦10♦ that took away all diamond outs for Klopotok, then turn 6♣ brought back two more outs, but finally a river blank 9♥, crowning Hennen as the new WPT Prime champion.
Rutger Hennen’s victory earned him €208,095 and a seat at the $10,400 WPT World Championship. Klopotok, though finishing as runner-up, secured a respectable €138,746, also his best career result. The next WPT Prime Championship is being held on WPT Voyage cruise aboard the Virgin Voyages Valiant Lady from April 1 to 5, where a $500,000 guaranteed prize pool awaits all the players ready to test their skill on the high seas.
