World Series of Poker -- Bertrand Grospellier Wins $10,000 Seven-Card Stud Championship

For some players it is simply a question of when, not if they will achieve a certain milestone in their career. While it may seem outlandish to say that a player will surely capture Poker’s Triple Crown during their poker career, especially considering that only three other players have ever done it, but it doesn’t seem too crazy when you are talking about the insanely talented Bertrand Grospellier. The 32-year-old Team PokerStars pro had amassed more than $8 million in career earnings before the final table of Event No. 21 ($10,000 seven-card stud championship) began at the 2011 World Series of Poker but the only thing he lacked was a WSOP gold bracelet. That all changed last night when ElkY won the event and Poker’s Triple Crown in the process.

ElkY previously won the 2008 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure main event and the 2008 World Poker Tour Festa al Lago main event to account for the first two pieces of his Triple Crown. In addition to achieving poker immortality with the victory he also took home his first gold bracelet and $331,639. He now holds $8,869,178 in career earnings.

Grospellier was all smiles after the win and he spoke highly of the biggest poker tournament series in the world. “I love to play at the World Series. It’s the world championship and the fields are much bigger. It’s like a big poker festival. Plus, you can play all these different games that you cannot play in Europe. We can play deuce-to-seven and stud, and it’s kind of a change. It’s enjoyable because it’s new to me. It’s also more fun to play in bigger fields. I just love to play in the United States, and especially the World Series,” said Grospellier.

As is the case with $10,000 world championship events the final table hosted a talented collection of professionals from the field of 126 players. Grospellier survived past Chad Brown. Alexander Kostritsyn, and John Hennigan at the final table. In what has also become a tradition for young professionals in $10,000 championship events that aren’t no-limit hold’em, Grospellier found success early in his experience with the game.

“I am really, really proud, especially because I got this in stud. It was the first time I played stud in a live (tournament). So, it’s really an amazing feeling…I have a really good memory for the cards. Some of my friends helped with the strategy, too. I tried to catch on quickly. But the first day, I made a lot of mistakes. And even earlier tonight there was a big hand where I acted out of turn because I was not sure of the rules,” said Grospellier of his unorthodox approach to the event. He continued, "I caught on quickly and in way all these card games are similar. The first time I played deuce-to-seven I got 11th. Of course, I had a lack of experience, but sometimes that served me well because I was playing really aggressive. I got my opponents to fold in some spots where they are not supposed to fold. So, it kind of worked out for me because sometime (my opponents) had no idea how I was going to play.”

Grospellier became the second player of the summer to achieve Poker’s Triple Crown in the confines of the Amazon Room. He joins Jake Cody (Who achieved his Triple Crown with a victory in the $25,000 heads-up no-limit hold’em championship two weeks ago), Roland de Wolfe, and the original Triple Crown Winner Gavin Griffin in the most exclusive club in poker. ElkY’s victory served as another marquee moment at the 2011 WSOP.

Here is a look at the elimination hands from the final table as featured in CardPlayer.com’s summary reports:

Christopher Tryba Eliminated 8th Place ($38,812)

Christopher Tryba came to the official eight-handed final table as the short stack and was eliminated on the first hand. Maxwell Troy brought in the low card with the 3, Chris Tryba completed with the K, Alexander Kostritsyn called with the 5, Troy raised, Tryba made it three-bets, Kostritsyn folded and Troy called. Tryba got the rest of his chips in on fourth street and was behind with one pair of Kings against Troy’s two pairs of jacks and threes.

Tryba: K 9 K 6 A 7 8
Troy: J J 3 3 4K 2

Christopher Tryba bricked on the remaining street and was the first one eliminated in 8th place ($28,812).

Kevin Tang Eliminated in 7th Place ($47,032)

Kevin Tang was on the short stack after Christopher Tryba was eliminated in 8th place, and got it all in on sixth street in this hand shortly after.

Steve Landfish completed with the J and Kevin Tang called with the 8 on third street. Landfish continued to bet through sixth street where Tang was all in with K – Q high against Landfish’s wired pair of nines.

Tang: Q 5 8 7 K 4
Landfish: 9 9 J 7 K 2.

Tang revered the 8 to make a lower pair than Landfish was already showing and was eliminated in 7th place ($47,032). Landfish grabbed the chip lead for the moment with just over 1.1 million this hand.

Chad Brown Eliminated in 6th Place ($57,917)

In the previous hand, Bertrand Grospellier was all in on sixth street with with a pair of kings and a diamond flush draw against Chad Brown’s two pair of aces and threes. Grospellier rivered his flush and doubled through Brown in a 600,000 pot. Brown was left with just over one big bet and got it all in against Maxwell Troy right after.

Brown: 9 9 4 7 5 A
Troy: 9 9 4 Q 2 3

Incredibly enough, both players had the very same hand on third street with a wired pair of nines and a four in the door. Brown was ahead on sixth street with an ace-high to Troy’s queen-high, but failed to improve on the river as Troy paired his deuce and made nines-up. Chad Brown was eliminated in 6th place ($57,917).

Alexander Kostritsyn Eliminated in 5th Place ($72,627)

Alexander Kostritsyn started the level as the short stack and was all in with a pair of kings against Maxwell Troy’s pair of queens with just two cards to go.

Kostritsyn: K K 3 J 5
Troy: Q 7 Q J 4

Kostritsyn failed to improve by seventh street while Troy hit the Q on the river to make trips, eliminating Alexander Kostritsyn in 5th place ($72,627).

John Hennigan Eliminated in 4th Place ($92,928)

John Hennigan came back from the dinner break as the short stack was eliminated in 4th place on the first hand back.

John Hennigan brought in the low card with the 4, Steve Landfish completed the bet with the A, Hennigan raised, Landfish three-bet and Hennigan called.

Landfish bet again on fourth and after pairing sevens on fifth street. Hennigan got the rest of his chips in and Landfish called.

Hennigan: 5 4 4 5 9
Landfish: A 3 A 7 7

Hennigan had made two pair on fourth street while Landfish had started with split aces and double paired on fifth street for the lead. Hennigan bricked on the remaining streets and was eliminated in 4th place ($92,928).

Maxwell Troy Eliminated in 3rd Place ($128,314)

Maxwell Troy started the level as the short stack with only 500,000, and got it all in on fifth street with a pair of nines against Steve Landfish’s pair of queens.

Troy: 9 4 9 6 10
Landfish: Q 5 Q A 4

Troy failed to improve on either of the next two streets while Landfish double paired fives on the river to win the hand. Maxwell Troy was eliminated in 3rd place ($128,314).

Steve Landfish Eliminated in 2nd Place ($204,924)

After an epic heads-up battle in which the chip lead seemed to change nearly every hand, Bertrand Grospellier had finally gained the lead back once again heading into Level 28, and quickly went to work chipping away at Landfish’s stack.

Grospellier won a huge pot that went to a showdown with two pair against Landfish’s single pair and a busted draw. This hand put Grospellier way out ahead, and Landfish on his last life with just 300,000 remaining.

On the final hand of the night, Landfish got the rest of his chips in the pot on third street with an ace-high and three to a flush while Grospellier had just an offsuit jack and some random small cards.

Landfish: A 4 3 J 4 10 7
Grospellier: J 5 9 5 6 6 6

Grospellier open-paired sixes on sixth street and caught a third on the river for trips while Landfish bricked completely. Steve Landfish was eliminated in 2nd place ($204,924) while Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier won his first gold bracelet in Event #21 and the $331,639 grand prize. This win makes Grospellier poker’s fourth Triple Crown winner overall, and the second of this year’s WSOP with Jake Cody already achieving this remarkable feat in the second event of the summer.

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