News
ELKY'S GOT A GOLD BRACELET!
Jun 15 2011 03:58 AM EST
Las Vegas, NV (June 15, 2011) – If Lady Gaga has a poker twin it’s most certainly Bertrand Grospellier.
Outrageously flamboyant, gifted beyond compare, and famous on multiple continents, the international maven gamesman is one of those rare individuals in our midst who commands attention without even trying. He changes a room by his very presence inside it. Maybe it’s the hair. Maybe it’s his towering stature. Maybe it’s his rock-star lifestyle.
Or maybe still – perhaps it’s his natural talent.
Grospellier, better-known for his anomalous moniker, “ElkY” (that’s not a typo – the Y is capitalized) is one of the few poker players in the world who commands the ability to be and become his own “brand.” Exceptional star athletes have this capacity. A few poker players have also been able to capitalize on their fame as well. But very few in this game were famous before they played poker. Fewer still transitioned into a sort of dual daily double of celebrity in the manner Grospellier has succeeded.
Grospellier, who is from France but now resides in London, is the perfectly-packaged global poker superstar who up until the early morning of June 15th had accomplished just about everything in the poker world, except one thing. He had never won a World Series of Poker gold bracelet.
In fact, his WSOP results up to this night had been a preposterous serious of letdowns. First, there was the fact that all he could muster for five arduous years was one relatively inadequate final table finish -- a pedestrian ninth-place showing in 2007. Then, there was his epic meltdown in the 2008 WSOP Main Event Championship, when he enjoyed the chip lead following three long days, and then dissolved into dust once the money payout was reached, ultimately finishing in 370th place. A few critics began to whisper that the 6'2" multilingual Frenchman with peroxide-frosted hair was all show, and no go.
Grospellier won far more than just a poker tournament tonight. He even won more than a gold bracelet. He erased countless memories of personal and professional disappointment in the world's most prestigious poker series. Indeed, no one would dare suggest Grospellier wasn’t a monumental success story both within poker and -- prior to that -- as one of the top-ranked cyber-gamesmen in the world. But if winning the WSOP gold bracelet means “validation” for an average poker player, it meant a sort of predestined coronation for Grospellier.
Indeed, up until this moment, Grospellier had earned more than $7 million in live poker tournaments on four different continents -- all in just eight years. He’d won multiple European Poker Tour titles. He’d won a World Poker Tour victory. But in the poker world, his prior victories were the equivalent of going into a fancy steakhouse and being served a vegetarian meal. The juicy porterhouse of this game is a WSOP gold bracelet.
And so, finally Grospellier’s voracious appetite was satisfied with all the trimmings. It was a meal served at the right temperature -- well done. With his victory in the $10,000 buy-in Seven-Card Stud World Championship, he not only won what had been an elusive title, he managed to triumph in an event comprised almost exclusively of fellow professionals and peers with a globally-respected designation.
For a comprehensive recap of Event #21, please click here.
Outrageously flamboyant, gifted beyond compare, and famous on multiple continents, the international maven gamesman is one of those rare individuals in our midst who commands attention without even trying. He changes a room by his very presence inside it. Maybe it’s the hair. Maybe it’s his towering stature. Maybe it’s his rock-star lifestyle.
Or maybe still – perhaps it’s his natural talent.
Grospellier, better-known for his anomalous moniker, “ElkY” (that’s not a typo – the Y is capitalized) is one of the few poker players in the world who commands the ability to be and become his own “brand.” Exceptional star athletes have this capacity. A few poker players have also been able to capitalize on their fame as well. But very few in this game were famous before they played poker. Fewer still transitioned into a sort of dual daily double of celebrity in the manner Grospellier has succeeded.
Grospellier, who is from France but now resides in London, is the perfectly-packaged global poker superstar who up until the early morning of June 15th had accomplished just about everything in the poker world, except one thing. He had never won a World Series of Poker gold bracelet.
In fact, his WSOP results up to this night had been a preposterous serious of letdowns. First, there was the fact that all he could muster for five arduous years was one relatively inadequate final table finish -- a pedestrian ninth-place showing in 2007. Then, there was his epic meltdown in the 2008 WSOP Main Event Championship, when he enjoyed the chip lead following three long days, and then dissolved into dust once the money payout was reached, ultimately finishing in 370th place. A few critics began to whisper that the 6'2" multilingual Frenchman with peroxide-frosted hair was all show, and no go.
Grospellier won far more than just a poker tournament tonight. He even won more than a gold bracelet. He erased countless memories of personal and professional disappointment in the world's most prestigious poker series. Indeed, no one would dare suggest Grospellier wasn’t a monumental success story both within poker and -- prior to that -- as one of the top-ranked cyber-gamesmen in the world. But if winning the WSOP gold bracelet means “validation” for an average poker player, it meant a sort of predestined coronation for Grospellier.
Indeed, up until this moment, Grospellier had earned more than $7 million in live poker tournaments on four different continents -- all in just eight years. He’d won multiple European Poker Tour titles. He’d won a World Poker Tour victory. But in the poker world, his prior victories were the equivalent of going into a fancy steakhouse and being served a vegetarian meal. The juicy porterhouse of this game is a WSOP gold bracelet.
And so, finally Grospellier’s voracious appetite was satisfied with all the trimmings. It was a meal served at the right temperature -- well done. With his victory in the $10,000 buy-in Seven-Card Stud World Championship, he not only won what had been an elusive title, he managed to triumph in an event comprised almost exclusively of fellow professionals and peers with a globally-respected designation.
Confirming his dexterity as a master gamesman, Grospellier revealed afterward that he had never previously played in a Seven-Card Stud tournament before. He was able to outlast players who for the most part had been playing the game most of their lives. Anyone know the French word for "amazing?"
The triumph netted Grospellier a nice paycheck amounting to $331,639. But everyone who watched the Frenchman high-fiving dozens of fellow countrymen and women in the gallery of spectators packed inside the Rio at 2 am when the tournament finally ended could recognize immediately that his satisfaction had little to do with money.
For a comprehensive recap of Event #21, please click here.
