Elky Grospellier Interview -

Elky Grospellier Picks up Bracelet in Vegas at Seven card stud (WSOP 2011)

elky grospellier poker player (photo Pat Graham)

Did it surprise you that, out of all the events you entered, the one you won was 7 card stud?

It was kind of surprising because I am very inexperienced at stud, but there’s lots of information out there on the game and I’m good at memorising the cards. In all poker variants similar skills are needed, like rating the players and how aggressive they are, and when you think you can get away with a move. Also, because I was so new to the game could surprise my
opponents, so it helped me in some ways.

Overall this has been your best World Series so far. Do you do anything different this year compared to previous years?

This year I decided I was going to play all the mixed games, and not just hold em. Even if I’m not very good at the mixed games, the chances of winning are much better, by being in the bottom few people of a 125 person field rather than the top five people in a 3,000 person event. That definitely helped me a lot, especially as I won my bracelet in stud.

In the six handed no-limit hold em event you fell at the last hurdle. What happened there?

It was a very, very tough field. The first two days were pretty hard, but on the second day I was able to get a huge stack. I had a really tough hand against Chris Moorman and after that I was short stacked. It was a bit disappointing but it took a really good performance to get third in such a tough field. It was really one of the best tournaments of the summer.

Have you been playing any cash games at the series?

No, because I like to play longer sessions and I haven’t had time because I really want to focus a lot on the tournaments. I don’t want to play cash games for just a few hours. I think it’s less interesting because you don’t have so much information on the players.

How happy are you with your overall performance?

Of course I’m really happy because I won a bracelet and completed the triple crown, which is great. Also, now I’m really close to player of the year and it’s definitely a huge objective for me, so I’m going to try my best, especially as they’re going to count the WSOP Europe at Cannes towards Player of the Year. It’s definitely something I would love to be able to get.