Harry Knopp

Birthplace
Rochester, PA

Hometown
Rochester, PA

Birthday
September 26

Total Winnings
$155,202

Before poker, Harry Knopp was a military man. He served in the United States Navy for 20 years before his retirement in 1978. From there, he moved on to building homes for a living. After serving in the military, contracting came easy and Knopp made a very good life for himself. His retirement fund had grown enough that he could afford to do what he wanted, and that was to play poker.

Knopp had been playing cards ever since he joined the Navy and with little else to do with his retirement, he fell into games in Ohio and West Virginia. They were contests that could see a man win or lose up to $20,000 in one session. Knopp had found a way to continue to fund his retirement. What's more, he'd found a new calling. While he played in some fairly large cash games, he wasn't much of a tournament player until he won a satellite to a World Poker Tour event.

In Season 2 of the WPT, Knopp made his way into the World Poker Challenge at the Reno Hilton. Though his friends back home didn't have much confidence the tournament rookie could do much with his satellite entry, Knopp proved them wrong. He made it all the way to the final table, placing third and winning more than $150,000. Since then, Knopp has returned to his life of home games and beating up on his friends.