"ElkY" Leaves Pokerstars Following 11 1/2 Year Partnership

Published on January 27th, 2018 10:36 am EST

Vanessa Selbst, Jason Mercier and now Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier.

The list of the members of "Team Pokerstars Pro" continues to shorten by the day, as "ElkY" has added himself to the name of high profile departures from Pokerstars' team of sponsored pros.

"ElkY" leaving Pokerstars is quite a surprise, as he is one of the longest serving members of "Team Pokerstars Pro" and has posted some very impressive results in live tournaments over the years. In fact, "ElkY" currently has over $13.5 million in total lifetime tournament cashes, putting him in the 29th spot on the all-time money list.

In addition, "ElkY" has ties to the esports world, which has exploded in popularity over the past number of years.

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In his statement, "ElkY" said that he wasn't happy to be involved with Pokerstars over the past couple of years.

Prior to Amaya purchasing the company, Pokerstars was beloved by almost everyone and getting sponsored by the company was a great gig, as they were the gold standard of the online poker world. Things have clearly changed and some sponsored pros have clearly had issues with continuing to represent the company (Isaac Haxton, for instance).

"ElkY" also said that "Team Pro used to be a core part of their strategy, but it became evident that this was not the case anymore during the last few years". With Mercier, Selbst and "ElkY" all hitting the exit over the past couple of months, you can't help but wonder who might be the next person to leave. Daniel Negreanu is, by far, the highest profile member of "Team Pokerstars Pro" left on the site's roster, though I can't imagine Pokerstars parting with Negreanu under any circumstances.

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Thankfully for "ElkY" and his fans, other sites will likely be lining up to sign him to a sponsorship deal.

At this point, partypoker seems like the likeliest landing spot for Grospellier, as his desire to bring value and "be consulted for strategic decisions" would seem to be in line with Partypoker's strategy for acquiring sponsored talent.

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Filed Under: Online Poker Rooms