| Bertrand Grospellier | |||||||||
| Nickname: | ElkY | ||||||||
| Birth Date: | 1981 2, df=yes | ||||||||
| Birth Place: | Melun, France | ||||||||
| Residence: | Prague, Czech Republic | ||||||||
| Wsop Bracelet Count: | 2 | ||||||||
| Wsop Final Tables: | 6 | ||||||||
| Wsop Money Finishes: | 47[1] | ||||||||
| Wsop Main Event Best Finish Rank: | 122nd | ||||||||
| Wsop Main Event Best Finish Year: | 2009 | ||||||||
| Wpt Titles: | 1 | ||||||||
| Wpt Final Tables: | 2 | ||||||||
| Wpt Money Finishes: | 5 | ||||||||
| Ept Titles: | 1 | ||||||||
| Ept Final Tables: | 2 | ||||||||
| Ept Money Finishes: | 18 | ||||||||
| Updated: | 2016-02-19 | ||||||||
| Module1: |
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Bertrand Grospellier (in French pronounced as /bɛʁtʁɑ̃ ɡʁopɛlje/; born 8 February 1981 in Melun[2]), also known as ElkY, is a French poker player and former and Warcraft III esports player. He has won a World Poker Tour (WPT), a World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet and a European Poker Tour (EPT) title, giving him the Triple Crown. He is a partypoker Pro and he currently resides in Prague, Czech Republic.[3] [4] ElkY is ranked #77 on the Global Poker Index (info from 8 July 2014). In November 2015 ElkY returned to the esports scene by joining Team Liquid as a Hearthstone player.
ElkY was one of the top ranked StarCraft players in the world, having placed second in the World Cyber Games in 2001 and continuing his career in South Korea in the years subsequent including a fourth-place finish in an Ongamenet Starleague. By 2002, he picked up the newly released and garnered success by finishing second in the televised Ongamenet WarCraft Retail League before retiring.[5]
He has turned his attention to professional poker the last few years. ElkY was a member of Team PokerStars. He was the first person ever to reach "Supernova" and "Supernova Elite" statuses on PokerStars - having earned 100,000 and 1,000,000 player points in 2 weeks, and months, respectively.[5]
He set the Guinness World Record for most Single Table Sit & Goes played in one hour for a total of 62 at a $6.50 buy in with a profit of $23.60. As usually playing a high number of simultaneous tournaments he has transferred well to the single live event.
On Saturday, 20 January 2007, he finished second in the Copenhagen event on the European Poker Tour for 309,000 Euros.[14] In January 2008, ElkY finished in 1st place winning $2,000,000 at the European Poker Tour's (EPT) PokerStars Caribbean Poker Adventure.[15] [16] A year later, while being knocked out of the main event of the PokerStars Caribbean Poker Adventure on day 1, ElkY went on to take home the EPT5 $25,000 buy-in "High Roller" side event for $433,500.[17]
In October 2008, ElkY added to his tournament haul by winning the World Poker Tour's Festa al Lago tournament, claiming a $1.4 million first prize.[18] The win marked ElkY's first-ever cash on the WPT. He also became just the third person, along with Roland De Wolfe and Gavin Griffin, to win a title on both the WPT and EPT. As a result of his success on the seventh season of the World Poker Tour, ElkY was awarded the distinction of "WPT Player of the Year.[19]
| + World Poker Tour Titles | |||
| Year | Tournament | Prize (US$) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | $15,000 Festa al Lago | $1,411,015 |
ElkY was disqualified from event 29 in the 2008 World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) for agreeing to go all-in blind with another player. This violated the tournament rule which states "Poker is an individual (not a team) game. Any action or chat intended to help another player is unethical and is prohibited." His winnings were forfeited and other places were moved up in the standings to replace his finish.[20] Two other players (Annette_15 and charder30) had also violated the same rule earlier.[21]
On 18 September 2009, ElkY won his first WCOOP bracelet in event 38.[22] He added a second bracelet only three days later in Event 43 by besting a field of 9,220 entrants. His winnings for both events totaled nearly $500,000.
| + World Championship of Online Poker Titles | ||||
| Year | Event | Tournament | Prize (US$) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Event 38 | $530 No Limit Hold’em 1R1A | $232,730 | |
| 2009 | Event 43 | $215 No Limit Hold’em | $263,323 |
ElkY won his first WSOP bracelet in the '2011 Seven Card Stud Championship', overcoming a field of 126 to collect $331,639 in prize money. This win made ElkY only the fourth player to win a WPT, EPT and WSOP title.
ElkY won his second bracelet in the 2019 WSOPE winning the $550 Colossus No limit holdem event.
| + World Series of Poker | |||
| Year | Tournament | Prize | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | $10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship | $331,639 | |
| 2019E | €550 Colossus No-Limit Hold’em | €191,172 |
An "E" following a year denotes bracelet(s) won at the World Series of Poker Europe
As of February 2018, his total live tournament winnings exceed $13,500,000.[23]
Today, ElkY is a member of the "Champions for Peace" club, a group of 54 famous elite athletes committed to serving peace in the world through sport, created by Peace and Sport, a Monaco-based international organization.[24]
In November 2015, Elky returned to the esports scene by joining Team Liquid as a Hearthstone player.[25]