ElkY is a French Poker Legend with Wins at the WSOP, the World Poker Tour, and the European Poker Tour
Bertrand Grospellier is better known by his nickname ‘ElkY’ in poker circles. He took this name after being one of the top ‘StarCraft’ players in the world. He quickly made a name for himself poker playing online, before giving the live tournament circuit a shot.
Like everything he has done in his career, ElkY has made it a success, winning some of the biggest events there are. Today, the French poker player is now a pro at Team GGPoker.
You can play with him at the tables over at www.ggpoker.com - check them out now!
ElkY at the World Series of Poker
One of the biggest wins of ElkY’s poker career came at the World Series of Poker in 2011. The Frenchman decided to enter the $10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship Event, facing another 125 players in his pursuit of his first bracelet.
Grospellier would find himself at the final table. The only bracelet winner at the table facing ElkY was two-time champion John Hennigan. ElkY would eventually win out, taking home the $331,000 first prize and his first bracelet at the age of 30.
WSOP Europe
In November 2019 further success would come his way at the World Series of Poker Europe, winning the €550 No-Limit Hold'em Colossus €1 Million GTD event. This victory would award him $212,000 and his second bracelet.
The biggest payout at the WSOP for Grospellier came in an event that he didn’t manage to win. At the 2017 WSOP he entered the $111,111 No-Limit Hold'em for One Drop and finished second in a field of 130 players. He picked up a check for $2.27 million, the biggest cash win of his career. Doug Polk took the $3.6 million first prize.
Other Tournament Successes for ElkY
Bertrand Grospellier is one of a small group of players who have enjoyed the triple crown of wins at the World Series of Poker, the World Poker Tour, and the European Poker Tour.
His success on the WPT came at the 2008 Festa Al Lago Classic, winning the $15,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em Championship event. Earlier that year he had claimed the Main Event 1 on the European Poker Tour at the Caribbean Adventure from PokerStars, winning a prize of $2 million.
ElkY has won more than $14 million playing tournaments in his career so far.
Online Poker Successes for ElkY
ElkY was the first ever person to reach Supernova and Supernova Elite status on PokerStars when those statuses first came into being. He reached Supernova in just two weeks and then moved up to Supernova Elite in 4 and a half months.
He also holds the world record for playing the most single table sit and goes in an hour. With 62 tables being played in that time frame. Each had a buy-in of $6.50 and he would end the record-breaking session with a profit of $23.60.
In addition to his live poker tournament successes, he has also won two World Championship of Online Poker events, in addition to a win at the Spring Championship of Online Poker.
Playing Style of ElkY
Grospellier is always one of the loosest and most aggressive players at any table he sits at. One of his aims is to take advantage of the fact that players can be risk averse in the early stages of tournaments. He is quoted as saying
‘When you play the big buy in live tournaments, people try to survive longer, for a lot of different reasons. You have to take advantage of that. People are less likely to bluff, they are less willing to gamble in the big tournaments’.
Quick Bio: About Bertrand Grospellier
While he might be familiar to you through Poker, ElkY first made his name playing StarCraft professionally, with many successes to his name. A series of successes in South Korea made him a name for himself and back in France he would win the Euro Cyber Games in 2003. He has also tried his hand and made successes at other eSports such as WarCraft III and Hearthstone.
Today, ElkY is still a major player on the poker circuit. Multiple cashes in the World Series of Poker came in 2021, making it one of his most successful and consistent years in the event. He also is one of the pros at leading and groundbreaking new poker site GGPoker, where ElkY sees the focus on ‘making poker fun again’. It’s a sure thing that there is a lot more to come from Bertrand Grospellier, or as we all know him, ElkY.
Play against Elky, Fedor Holz, Daniel Negreanu and other big poker names at GGPoker – win a big hand against them and you’ll have a cool story, as well as the pot!
See www.ggpoker.com now!
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Image credit: Wikipedia, with a little help from free picture editor Canva.