Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier joins Lagardère Unlimited

Lagardère Unlimited has signed an exclusive, worldwide representation contract with the poker player Bertrand Grospellier.

Born in Melun in 1981, this worldwide poker star nicknamed ElkY started out as a professional video game player. He chose the pseudonym ‘ElkY’ which is derived from Elkantar, the name of a role play character. In 2001, he was one of the world’s best players of StarCraft, becoming World vice-champion at the World Cyber Games. He continued his StarCraft career until one day a friend told him about the poker game, Texas Hold’Em. ElkY immediately realized how the abilities he used and developed for playing video games could help him succeed as a poker player.

In 2003, he opened an account on PokerStars under the name ElkY. He quickly became a full time poker player. The skills which he had developed for playing video games, notably his analytical abilities enabled him to play several tables simultaneously whilst keeping his concentration and speed of play.

He finished 2nd in the European Poker Tour in Copenhagen in 2007, winning $ 399,953.  A few months later he reached the final table in a World Series of Poker event.

However, it was in 2008 that ElkY really took off, when he beat over a thousand players in the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure to win $ 2,000,000, becoming the French player with the most winnings from tournaments. ElkY distinguished himself the same year in several tournaments in the PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker, amassing over $ 400,000. He won the World Poker Tour Festa Al Lago Classic at the Bellagio in Las Vegas in October 2008, winning more than $ 1,400,000. He finished the year with the title ‘European Player of the Year’ and with 6 major final tables under his belt.

ElkY continued forcefully in 2009 with a new win at the PCA in the Bahamas in the High Roller tournament, winning $ 433,000. He finished third in the NBC National Heads-up Poker Championship, winning $ 125,000 all the same. In March 2009, he was third in the World Poker Tour world championship ($ 775,000), winning the title of WPT player of the year, having netted more than 5 million dollars in 15 months.

The next month, on the fringes of the Monte-Carlo EPT, he set the multi-tabling world record on PokerStars by playing 62 Sit And Go in 1 hour. ElkY won two titles during the PokerStars World Championships of online poker in September 2009, winning $ 496,053.

At only 29, ElkY has already won more money in tournaments than some poker legends like Doyle Brunson or Howard Lederer. And it’s only just the beginning…
ElkY, a man who is open to all challenges and well aware of the demands required to continue to shine on the international poker circuit, which is becoming a top level sport, has decided to team up with Lagardère Unlimited, a company which specializes in managing professional sportsmen and women.

He will be represented by Romain Collinet from the Paris office.

Lagardère Unlimited is the talent management business unit of the Lagardère Group. With its headquarters in Paris, the company operates around the world. Currently, Lagardère Unlimited represents some of the best players including Joe Van Niekerk, Ugo Monye, Jason White, Andy Roddick, Gael Monfils and Justine Henin.

• For more information on Lagardère Unlimited, visit www.lagardere-unlimited.com

Lagardère Unlimited, a talent management company