ElkY

Bertrand Grospellier (French pronunciation: [bɛʁtʁɑ̃ ɡʁopɛlje]; born 8 February 1981 in Melun^[2]), also known as ElkY /ˈɛlki/, is a French poker player and former StarCraft: Brood War and Warcraft III esports player. As of February 2025, his total live poker earnings exceeds $15.4 million.^[3] He has won two World Series of Poker bracelets.

Bertrand Grospellier
ElkY at King's Casino Rozvadov in 2020
Nickname(s)	ElkY
Residence	Prague, Czech Republic
Born	(1981-02-08) 8 February 1981 (age 44) Melun, France
World Series of Poker
Bracelet(s)	2
Final table(s)	6
Money finish(es)	47[1]
Highest WSOP Main Event finish	122nd, 2009
World Poker Tour
Title(s)	1
Final table(s)	2
Money finish(es)	5
European Poker Tour
Title(s)	1
Final table(s)	2
Money finish(es)	18
Current team
Team	Team Liquid
Game	Hearthstone
Esports career information
Games	StarCraft: Brood War Warcraft III Hearthstone
Career highlights and awards
Euro Cyber Games champion (2003)
Information last updated on 19 February 2016.

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, as of 2024.^[4][5] ElkY maintained the number-one rank on the Global Poker Index for 18 weeks between July 2011 and October 2012.^[6][7] In November 2015, ElkY returned to the esports scene by joining Team Liquid as a Hearthstone player.^{[needs update]}

StarCraft and WarCraft III

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 for a few years subsequent, including a fourth-place finish in an Ongamenet Starleague. By 2002, he picked up the newly released WarCraft III: Reign of Chaos and garnered success by finishing second in the televised Ongamenet WarCraft Retail League before retiring.^[8]

Accomplishments

• 3rd – StarCraft: Brood War, KBK Jeju, 2001 (Seoul, South Korea)^[9]
• 2nd – StarCraft: Brood War, World Cyber Games 2001 (Seoul, South Korea)^[10]
• 4th – StarCraft: Brood War, World Cyber Games 2002 (Daejeon, South Korea)^[11]
• 4th – StarCraft: Brood War, SKY 2 Ongamenet Starleague, 2002 (Seoul, South Korea)^[12]
• 2nd – WarCraft III: Reign of Chaos, Ongamenet WarCraft Retail League, 2002 (Seoul, South Korea)^[13]
• 1st – StarCraft: Brood War, Euro Cyber Games 2003 (Paris, France)^[14]
• Round 8 – StarCraft: Brood War, World Cyber Games 2003 (Seoul, South Korea)^[15]
• Round 16 – StarCraft: Brood War, World Cyber Games 2004 (San Francisco, California, United States)^[16]

Poker career

ElkY turned his attention to professional poker from 2004 to 2005, where he became a full-time poker pro. ElkY was a member of Team PokerStars. He was the first person to reach "Supernova" and "Supernova Elite" statuses on PokerStars, having earned 100,000 and 1,000,000 player points in 2 weeks, and 4+1⁄2 months, respectively.^[8]

Accomplishments

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. In addition to playing a high number of simultaneous tournaments, he has transferred well to live tournaments and cash games.

European Poker Tour

On Saturday, 20 January 2007, he finished second in the Copenhagen event on the European Poker Tour for €309,000.^[17] In January 2008, ElkY finished in 1st place, winning $2,000,000 at the European Poker Tour's (EPT) PokerStars Caribbean Poker Adventure.^[18][19] 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.^[20]

World Poker Tour

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.^[21] 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.^[4] 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.^[22]

World Poker Tour Titles

Year	Tournament	Prize (US$)
2008	$15,000 Festa al Lago	$1,411,015

World Championship of Online Poker

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.^[23] Two other players (Annette_15 and charder30) had also violated the same rule earlier.^[24]

On 18 September 2009, ElkY won his first WCOOP bracelet in event 38.^[25] 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 totalled 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

Spring Championship of Online Poker Titles

Year	Event	Tournament	Prize(US$)
2011	Event 35	$25,000 Heads-Up NLHE	$112,500

World Series of Poker

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 Hold'em 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

Career earnings

As of February 2025, his total live poker earnings exceeds $15.4 million.^[3]

Charity

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.^[26]

Hearthstone

In November 2015, Elky returned to the esports scene by joining Team Liquid as a Hearthstone player.^[27]