Paradise Island in the Bahamas easily lives up to its name for all who visit. With its pristine waters, beautiful beaches, and gorgeous women, it is easy to see why so many every year, fall in love with this little slice of laid-back heaven.
Of all those people that visit this tropical wonderland though, few could possibly love it more at this moment than Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, who yesterday took down his second major poker tournament here, of the last twelve months.
Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, last year’s PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Main Event Champion, has just won the 2009 European Poker Tour PCA “High Roller” event – a $25,000 buy-in tournament with a first prize worth $433,500. With this win, ElkY’s winnings in the Bahamas total nearly $2.5 million, more than many tournament players make in their lifetimes.
The 2009 PCA “High Roller” event had only 48 entrants this year, but within that starting field sat many of the top poker minds on Earth including Daniel Negreanu, Joe Hachem, Sorel Mizzi, Gus Hansen, Ivan Demidov, Antonio Esfandiari, Eric Seidel, and many others.
Winning an event with such a prestigious field is a remarkable accomplishment; winning several, or in “ElkY’s” case, three in the last year (the third being the 2008 $15,000 WPT Championship), is practically unheard of and bares witness to why Grospellier at this moment, is considered by many to be one of the best tournament poker players on the planet.
The final table results for the 2009 PCA $25,000 “High Rollers” event were as follows:
1st. Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier – $433,500
2nd. Will Molson – $228,000
3rd. Scott Seiver – $137,000
4th. Liya Gerasimova – $91,300
5th. Humberto Brenes – Costa Rica – $70,800
6th. Eli Elezra – $68,500
7th. Daniel Alaei – $57,000
8th. Nick Schulman – $45,700
PokerStars is the source for many of the biggest and best tournaments, both live and online.