Elky Grospellier “ElkY“

Total Winnings
$2,256,044

With a penchant for rhinestones and hair bleach and a name like ElkY, it is surprising to hear Bertrand Grospellier is a poker pro and not a rock star. Though not a musician, Grospellier did achieve rock star status in Asia thanks to his career as a professional StarCraft player. After almost five years on the gaming circuit, the Frenchman set his sights on poker. He became the first player to reach SuperNova Elite status on PokerStars. His online tournament earnings are in excess of $1.7 million and his major victories include wins in two WCOOP Events and the 2011 SCOOP High Roller Heads-Up Championship.

His online results are impressive, but Grospellier’s live tournament scores are some of the best in poker history. In January of 2008, Grospellier won $2 million and the title of PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Main Event Champion. That victory kicked off a nearly two-year long streak of major scores. In the fall of 2008, Grospellier added a WPT title to his list of accomplishments, winning Season VIII’s Festa al Lago Main Event along with over $1.4 million.

In the spring of 2009, Grospellier was back in the WPT spotlight at the final table of the Season VII WPT World Championship. He failed to pick up a second title, but he did lock up the honor of Season VII Player of the Year thanks to his third place showing. Over the course of Season VII, Grospellier picked up more than $2.2 million in WPT winnings.

What many wrote off as an unusually hot winning streak cooled down for Grospellier in 2010, but he got back to his winning ways in 2011, becoming only the fourth player ever to pick up poker’s Triple Crown after winning the $10,000 Seven Card Stud bracelet at the 2011 WSOP. At the young age of 30, Grospellier already has seven big tournament wins, the Triple Crown, WPT Player of the Year honors, and over $8.4 million in career tournament earnings.