Bertrand Grospellier has got game. In 2001, the Paris-born computer whiz moved to Korea to compete as a professional gamer in the
World Cyber Games, the biggest gaming tournament in the world. He would capture second place in the Starcraft: Brood War tournament and go on to become one of the most successful gamers residing in Korea. It wasn't long before he would bring his gaming alias - ElkY - to the felt with equal success.
Friends had encouraged ElkY to switch to poker, a more profitable use of his time in the long run. "I could practice Starcraft 12 hours a day," said Grospellier. "But if I lost the game, the value would be zero. In poker, every hour has some benefit. After 12 hours of poker, if I've played well, I can say, 'Hey, I just made $3,000 today.' For my level of performance, poker was the smarter choice."
Switching was not only smart, but extremely profitable for the 26-year-old. In 2006, he finished second in the
European Poker Tour Scandinavian Open, for $399,386, and also won $57,000 in an online Sunday event. Sponsored by PokerStars at the 2007
World Series of Poker, he cashed in three events for $56,000, with one final-table appearance, in the $2,500 no-limit hold'em event.
Grospellier is able to multitask online like most young players with a gaming background. He is a regular in the high-stakes cash games, as well as sit-and-gos and multitable tournaments. At any one time during the day, he will be playing all three simultaneously, with as many as 12 tables open on his flat screens.
Card Player caught up with Grospellier on one of his days off at the
WSOP to talk about his poker beginnings and relationship with PokerStars.
Craig Tapscott: I heard you dived into the larger stakes right off the bat.
Bertrand Grospellier: I started at $1-$2 no-limit hold'em on PokerStars and, obviously, lost a lot of money. I didn't know what I was doing. I didn't want to listen to a friend who was telling me not to play bad hands out of position. I thought Q-10 offsuit was a great hand. I liked it (laughing). Then I started to listen more to my friends, read books, and analyze my game.
CT: Why start so high to learn the game?
BG: Because I had won money from Starcraft and it was something fun for me. Then I went to Vancouver, Canada, to watch some ex-Starcraft friends play, and I learned a lot from them. When I went back home to Korea, my game was much better. I then started to win regularly at $2-$4 no-limit and higher.
CT: What talents were you able to bring to poker from your computer gaming background?
BG: You have to be able to focus very hard and have a lot of mind-reading ability when you play Starcraft. It's a heads-up game, and you have to anticipate the opponent's moves and always be one step ahead. You also have to know what your opponent is going to do, and reply even before he does it. I also developed the ability to play well under pressure when a lot of money is at stake in those televised Starcraft tournaments.
CT: When did you start competing in live poker tournaments?
BG: I started playing some satellites for multitable tournaments online and won a seat to an
EPT event. Then I qualified for the
WSOP main event in 2005. In 2006, I qualified for the main event six times on PokerStars. This prompted them to offer me a deal with them for all the big tournaments.
CT: Why PokerStars?
BG: When I started, I played mainly on PokerStars. I loved the software. Also, the level of play there is the best in the world.
CT: You must have played 24/7 to become its first Supernova Elite Player.
BG: I played 10 hours a day for one month straight. I was busy early this year with
EPT events, so I couldn't play much until mid-March. Another player, BigJoe2003, was ahead of me, and I had to catch up with him. It was important to me to be the first one.
CT: Was the transition from online to live play seamless?
BG: The most important thing for my live game was to have more patience, and to take my time when making decisions.
CT: What advice do you have for players just starting out?
BG: Whether you win or lose, always analyze your play. It's very easy when you lose to say that you got unlucky, and when you win to think you're playing well. That might not be the case; you might have won because you were lucky and lost because you were playing badly. Always view your game from a different perspective, and always work on improving.
