Martin de Knijff was born October 2, 1972 in Gothenburg, Sweden to a Dutch father and Swedish mother. His poker playing days began with Five-Card Draw when he was fifteen. From there his interests moved to Omaha and Holdem. Upon graduation from high school he pursued sports betting professionally. After spending years in Stockholm he made the move to Las Vegas in 1992 to pursue full-time gambling, namely poker, as a profession.
Studying up on his chosen profession proved to be a serious task for de Knijff. He spent a great deal of time soaking up page after page of "how-to" wisdom from various poker resources. Fashioning his playing tactics around his favorite poker resource - Doyle Brunson's book Super System has been a profitable decision for de Knijff. His first notable win was a $60,000 paycheck for a 13th place finish during the 2002 World Series of Poker Main Event. At the World Poker Tour event he earned over $26,000 with a 15th place finish. It was at the following year's WPT that he earned bragging rights to the then highest ever single payout during a poker tournament when he won the tournament and took home $2,728,356. His momentum continued with a 2nd place win during the World Series of Poker's $5,000 No Limit Holdem event. Other poker pros know de Knijff as being a respectful yet fiercely sharp player. Although he remains a respected figure in the poker world, he ruffled some feathers with a feature article he wrote for CardPlayer magazine in 2005. In the article he insisted that tournament supporters and backers have an obligation to make themselves known. Considering that de Knijff's self-proclaimed poker mantra is to "respect, but never to fear your opponent" he remains unaffected by the cool reactions to his article and respects others' right to differ. With collective earnings to date peaking $3,200,000 - de Knijff has plenty of money to enjoy his hobby - golf.
