2008 PCA winner Bertrand 'ElkY' Grospellier

You probably know about Team PokerStars and the professionals that fill those ranks. You no doubt know of the likes of World Champions Chris Moneymaker, Greg Raymer and Joe Hachem, all of whom have graced the poker world as PokerStars ambassadors with considerable style and panache. Whilst they might be among the high profile Team members there are of course others, well known in the own countries and indeed around the world. And if you hadn’t already heard of Bertrand ‘ElkY’ Grospellier as one of the best players in the game, then you will now, for last week he won the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure and a cool $2 million.

‘ElkY’ was a star of the pro-gaming world before he was a PokerStars. The pro gaming world? Yes, ‘Starcraft’ to be exact, where he made a living in Korea where the young gamers make a living with hand-eye co-ordination. But essentially it was the competing and ultimately he winning that got ElkY into poker and into winning at poker.

And win he did, although it took some time after a few years breaking onto the scene to finally win his first major title. But always there was the will to win. "When you get second, people forget about you really quickly," he said.

And he knows exactly what that feels like. Back at the EPT Copenhagen in season three he found himself on the miserable end of a heads up battle that went wrong. With a clear advantage against Magnus Petersson he wound up second to the Swede, victim of an incredible comeback. "I was devastated," he confessed.

But memories like that are quickly forgotten when you win $2 million in the fifth annual PCA. A great win for ‘ElkY’ and for Team PokerStars.

Photo © Neil Stoddart