It’s a documented fact that Betrand “ElkY” Grospellier wins every tournament he enters. Well, almost, anyway. For the past half-decade, ElkY’s trip from Starcraft to poker saw him notch titles on the European Poker Tour and World Poker Tour. The journey earned him fame, validation, and more than $7 million. In all that time, under the weight of all that money and fame, ElkY was burdened with a fairly glaring omission from his c.v.
ElkY had never won a World Series of Poker bracelet. That changed just a few hours ago as he strapped the gold around his wrist for the first time. Having never before played a live 7-card Stud tournament, ElkY entered this year’s $10,000 championship with little more in his arsenal than his alien ability to play any game better than most people do anything.
In the end took mountain a massive final table comeback and four-hour heads up battle, but ElkY earned his gold bracelet and more than $330,000.
“So sick,” he wrote to the world before heading off to bed. “Finally did it after five years of the WSOP! Thanks so much everyone for the support and best wishes!”
ElkY in the 2011 WSOP 7-card Stud championship
If you’re reading this blog, you likely already know poker’s triple crown includes wins on the game’s three biggest stages (EPT, WPT, and WSOP). In 2008, ElkY won a WPT title for $1.4 million. That was the same year he won the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (the first year it was an official EPT event) for $2 million. His new WSOP bracelet puts him in an elite crowd of Triple Crown winners that includes the likes of Gavin Griffin, Roland de Wolfe, and Jake Cody.
ElkY’s WSOP also pulled the spotlight away from an impressive effort by Team PokerStars Pro in the 7-card stud event. Jason Mercier, Ville Wahlbeck, and Chad Brown all finished in the money.
Now, ElkY is having himself a nap. When he wakes, he’ll head to his bracelet ceremony and start planning for the best place to have a party. I’d suggest you finagle yourself an invite, as ElkY has been working to get this monkey off his back for half a decade. He’ll be ready to throw down.
Congratulations, ElkY, on another amazing performance.
Photo courtesy WSOP.com