Fresh off WPT win, poker player Rutger Hennen heads to jail

The millionaire poker player was involved in a car crash that led to the death of a cyclist

Rutger Hennen became a World Poker Tour (WPT) champion again in March after winning the WPT Prime Amsterdam Main Event for €209,775 ($227,752). However, the thrill of the victory was short-lived, as he now finds himself completing a prison sentence in the Netherlands after he was convicted of killing a teenage cyclist in a car crash that occurred in 2019. 

In a recent Quote magazine article, Hennen was ranked 30th among the Top 100 Young Self-Made Millionaires. He started his business in 2017 after renting a van to sell custom chairs and recliners to the elderly. The company, Meubelzorg, was very successful for the first three years, averaging €6.4 million in annual profits.

In June 2023, the company was added to Vendis Capital’s private equity fund portfolio, increasing Hennen’s net worth to over €50 million.

Hennen’s Hendon Mob resume shows several live tournament cashes from 2011 to 2019, but he started entering more events after his unfortunate incident. He took the title at the €1,100 WPT Amsterdam Main Event in March 2024 and took 31st at the €5,300 buy-in PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) Monte-Carlo Main Event. 

Nearly five years before his WPT championship on June 19, 2019, Hennen was driving at high speed in his Porsche Cayenne when he collided with a 15-year-old girl on a bicycle at an intersection, killing her instantly.

Hennen was convicted of killing the cyclist and sentenced to five months in prison and banned from driving for 18 months. The Public Prosecution Service later appealed the sentence, and Hennen also filed an appeal seeking community service instead of jail time. 

Hennen’s appeal eventually reached the Supreme Court, where his sentence was increased to six months, and the driving ban was extended to two years. According to sources related to Quote magazine, Hennen began serving his sentence this month.