Imagine sitting in a burning car one moment and then winning your first World Series of Poker Circuit ring the next. For Andreas ‘Rayo’ Kniep, this was not just a fantasy—it was his reality. Just one week ago, this German-turned-Californian’s life took a sharp turn. He was coming back from a wedding in Truckee to San Francisco with his six-month pregnant wife, Rebecca. As they reached a bridge over the Sacramento River, their car suddenly began to shake violently. Panicked, they pulled over, only to find themselves trapped inside as the car caught fire. People screamed, “Get away from the car!”
They barely escaped before the flames burned their car, leaving it in an unrecognizable condition. However, this near-death experience was just the beginning of a magical week as he started a new job at Google as a software engineer and then became a U.S. citizen on Friday. Then came the historic day on Monday when he etched his name in poker history by winning his first WSOP Circuit ring with his victory in Event #5: $600 No-Limit Hold’em 6-Handed. He overcame a competitive field of 120 entries, eventually defeating Pedro Green (runner-up for $10,318) to claim the $15,907 top prize money.
This marked Kniep’s first live title of 2024 and second final table score at the ongoing WSOPC Graton stop, following a third place finish in Event #3: $400 No-Limit Hold’em Mega Stack for $10,451. He is best known for his deep run in the 2021 WSOP Main Event where he finished 18th for $ 305,000 and a fourth-place finish in the WSOP 2023 Millionaire Maker for $501,182. He also competed in this year’s WSOP and cashed four tournament. The latest win takes his live tournament earnings to $1,374,697.
WSOPC Graton Event #5: $600 No-Limit Hold’em 6-Handed Final Table Results
1. Andreas Kniep – $15,907
2. Pedro Green – $10,318
3. Frank Saunders – $6,937
4. Loren Egide – $4,834
5. Taylor Pollard – $3,514
6. Terrance Reid – $2,654
Daniel Hughes Remains The Biggest Winner At WSOP Graton So Far
The WSOPC Graton stop runs from August 15-26 and features over a dozen ring events headlined by a $1,700 buy-in Main Event with a $500,000 guaranteed prize pool. Five champions have been crowned so far in this series, with Frank Chavez (Won Event #1: $400 Big 30K Stack Kickoff for $21,762) winning the first event of the series. After that, Daniel Hughes topped a large field of 1,131 runners in Event #2: $600 No-Limit Hold’em Deepstack for $86,857, which remains the biggest the stop so far.
WSOPC Graton Event #2: $600 No-Limit Hold’em Deepstack Final Table
- Daniel Hughes – $86,857
- Brian Mintz – $57,905
- Michael Persky – $41,735
- Levi Wagner – $30,479
- Ryan Rummonds – $22,558
- Richard Gao – $16,923
- Steve Stockman – $12,872
- Feiyue Wu – $9,926
- Simon Hung – $7,764
The third and fourth events of the ongoing series were won by Lev Saakov (Won Event #3: $400 No Limit Hold’em for his first ring and $22,901), Charles Himes (Won Event #4: $400 Seniors Event for $15,738 and his first ring).
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Image and Content Courtesy: WSOP & PokerOrg
