Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier’s Life: Biggest Profits, Losses, Private Life & Net Worth

Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier is a French professional poker player and former professional eSports competitor born on February 8, 1981 in Melun, France. He has over $14.6 million in live tournament earnings, is one of only nine players in history to complete the poker Triple Crown - titles at the WSOP, EPT, and WPT - and holds over $2 million in tracked online MTT earnings. His estimated net worth is between $8 million and $12 million.

You can view his full poker profile on Somuchpoker here.

Before poker, he was a well-known professional StarCraft and Warcraft III player based in South Korea. He transitioned to poker in 2004, built his game at the high-stakes cash tables on PokerStars under the screen name “ElkY”, and went on to win some of the biggest events in the world. He is a current GGPoker ambassador and runs a Twitch channel with over 50,000 followers.

Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier | Key Facts (2026)

Who Is Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier?

In the early 2000s, Grospellier was a professional StarCraft and Warcraft III player based in South Korea, where he was, by his own account, reasonably well known in the eSports community. In 2004, a Korean friend introduced him to online poker. He made an account under his eSports nickname, “ElkY”, on PokerStars, and within a year was playing at the high-stakes tables.

The skills he described as transferable from eSports to poker - game analysis, competition, deliberate action, and game theory - were not just talking points. He built a formidable online game quickly, frequently playing heads-up matches against players including Doug “WCGRider” Polk at the highest stakes on PokerStars.

By 2008 he had his first eight-figure live tournament year, winning $2 million at the PCA and over $1.4 million at the WPT within the same twelve months. Three years later, a WSOP 7-Card Stud title completed the Triple Crown. He briefly returned to eSports as a competitive Hearthstone player in 2015 before recommitting fully to poker.

What Does ElkY Do for a Living?

Grospellier earns across three areas: live tournament play, online poker, and his current GGPoker ambassadorship.

• Live Tournaments: His primary public record, with $14.6 million across 146 cashes. He has competed across the WSOP , European Poker Tour , World Poker Tour , and Asian Poker Tour events throughout his career, winning the Triple Crown across all three major series.
• Online Poker: Over $2 million in tracked online MTT earnings on his PokerStars account, including two WCOOP titles in 2009 and a SCOOP heads-up title in 2011. His online cash game history at the highest stakes is largely untracked publicly beyond a small 162-hand sample.
• Brand Ambassadorship: After 11.5 years as a PokerStars Team Pro, he left in early 2018 and joined partypoker before moving to GGPoker in April 2020. He remains one of GGPoker’s most prominently featured ambassadors - his face is available as an in-client animated emote during play.

ElkY Net Worth 2026 - What the Numbers Actually Show

The $8 million to $12 million estimate is a range, not a confirmed figure. It draws from his verified live earnings of $14.6 million via his Hendon Mob profile, his tracked online MTT total of over $2 million, and long-term income from three separate major sponsorship relationships spanning nearly two decades.

The live record is the clearest part - 146 cashes across a 20-year span, with the biggest result being a $2.278 million runner-up finish in the WSOP $111,111 Big One for One Drop in 2017. The gap between the gross $14.6 million and the net worth estimate reflects standard high-roller economics: buy-ins, taxes, staking, and the variability inherent in playing at this level for two decades.

The sponsorship picture adds meaningfully and is entirely separate from tournament results. Eleven and a half years with PokerStars, two years with partypoker, and an ongoing arrangement with GGPoker represent sustained commercial income across most of his professional career.

ElkY’s Tournament Record – Top Career Scores

The Triple Crown: ElkY won the EPT title in 2008 (PCA, $2M), the WPT title later that same year (Bellagio, $1.411M), and the WSOP bracelet in 2011 (7-Card Stud, $331,639) - completing a Triple Crown that only eight other players in history have achieved.

The Big One for One Drop Runner-Up

The biggest cash of ElkY’s career came at the 2017 WSOP, where he finished runner-up in the $111,111 Big One for One Drop for $2,278,657. He lost the heads-up battle to Doug Polk - the same player he had frequently battled in high-stakes online cash games at PokerStars years earlier. The circular nature of that final was not lost on the poker community.

The Kickboxing Match

In November 2011, Grospellier had a kickboxing bout against fellow poker player and Twitch streamer Lex Veldhuis in Marbella, Spain. The two are close friends - it was ElkY who introduced Veldhuis to online poker, depositing the first $10 on his account. A challenge issued during EPT Barcelona in 2009 took two years to materialise into an actual fight.
Veldhuis knocked ElkY out in the second round with a kick to the head.

The Unanswered Questions

The public record only goes so far. Here is what we genuinely do not know:

• What his three major sponsorship deals have been worth in aggregate: PokerStars (11.5 years), partypoker (2 years), GGPoker (ongoing from 2020). None of the commercial terms have been publicly disclosed.
• What his online cash game results look like in full: He was famous for high-stakes heads-up matches on PokerStars against players including Doug Polk. The tracked sample is just 162 hands - a fraction of his actual activity at those stakes.
• How active his tournament schedule remains in 2026: He won a title at the APT Taipei in 2024, suggesting he is still competing. Whether that represents sustained volume or selective appearances is not fully clear from the public record.
• What the GGPoker ambassador deal pays: He is one of their most prominently featured names. The commercial terms are not publicly known.

ElkY Career Timeline

What Is ElkY’s Outlook in 2026?

At 45 in 2026, Grospellier has been a professional poker player for over 20 years, and the 2024 APT Taipei title confirms he is still competing and still capable of winning. The Triple Crown, the Big One for One Drop runner-up, and two decades of sustained high-level play across three different sponsorship eras make him one of the most complete careers in the modern game.

His GGPoker ambassadorship keeps him visible and active in the broader poker ecosystem. The Twitch channel at 50,000+ followers means his online presence remains meaningful. And the eSports-to-poker story that defined his early years continues to be one of the most compelling origin stories the game has produced.

A second WSOP bracelet - perhaps in a mixed-game or high-roller format - would be the obvious next tournament milestone. Whether the schedule and appetite align for that remains to be seen.

Social Media & Online Presence

• The Hendon Mob Profile
• X (Twitter) Profile
• Instagram Profile
• Twitch Channel - 50,000+ followers

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