December 26 2011, Mickey Doft

To achieve what has been dubbed poker’s Triple Crown requires a player to win a tournament on the European Poker Tour, World Poker Tour, and at the World Series of Poker. The list of players to accomplish this feat is short, as the WPT was launched in 2002 and the EPT was created in 2004.

Several players were one leg away from joining this list and over the course of the 2011 poker schedule, two of them made it happen.

Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier

Ever since Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier’s 2008 eruption onto the live tournament scene, the poker world was waiting for his WSOP breakout party. Unfortunately, with only five combined cashes at the 2009 and 2010 WSOPs and WSOPEs, Grospellier was unable to shine on the world’s biggest poker stage.

However, that all changed this summer.

“ElkY” finally hit it big this summer at the WSOP, and captured a WSOP bracelet to go along with his January 2008 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (EPT) victory and his October 2008 Festa Al Lago (WPT) win. He was already among the best players to have never won a bracelet and it was only a matter of time before he did so. However, it was in what event he won his bracelet that many find most impressive.

Prior to his win, Grospellier raised a few eyebrows in the event he played immediately before his bracelet win. It was the $10,000 No-Limit 2-7 Draw Lowball World Championship and with an 11th-place showing, Grospellier notched his first live non-hold’em cash on record. On the heels of that result, Grospellier entered the $10,000 Seven-Card Stud World Championship. What happened from there? He defeated a top-notch field of 126 players to earn his first bracelet. Here was his day-by-day path leading to the final table.

Although Grospellier scored only one elimination at the final table, it was the one that counted. To even be in position to do so was quite the achievement, one that he will no doubt always remember. He began heads-up play against Steve Landfish at a modest 1.5:1 chip disadvantage, but Landfish had the upper hand for the beginning portion of the heads-up duel and increased to a whopping 24:1 chip lead at one point. However, a resilient and determined Grospellier stormed back to join the short list of Triple Crown winners.

Lynn Gilmartin caught up with “ElkY” following his win:

Jake Cody

In January 2010, Jake Cody burst onto the live poker scene when he won the Main Event at EPT Deauville. For being an unknown at the time, Cody defeated a very skilled final table that included Mike “Timex” McDonald, Craig Bergeron, Peter Eastgate, and Grospellier (who bubbled in ninth place). Later that year, Cody won WPT London in his home country to quickly close in on claiming the Triple Crown. At the 2011 WSOP, he wasted little time doing so, winning the $25,000 No-Limit Hold’em Heads-Up Championship which began on the first day of the Series. Here was his path to capturing the bracelet:

Facing Gus Hansen in the final four, Cody captivated the audience with a dominating performance against “The Great Dane.” Each player began the match with 800,000 in chips on the table, along with two 800,000-chip add-on bullets behind. Cody worked Hansen’s stack down before each Hansen reload. It took less than two hours for Cody to take Hansen’s entire 2.4 million.

His match against Yevgeniy Timoshenko in the finals didn’t go quite as quick, but three hours was all Cody needed. Each player began the match with 1.6 million in chips on the table with two add-ons behind. Once again, Cody didn’t need more than his starting stack to to claim victory.

Here is Lynn Gilmartin with Jake Cody after his victory:

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December 26 2011, Josh Bell

Tony G wants Phil Hellmuth to retire? Read on to find out more on why he’s calling for Hellmuth’s retirement, and how you could win your way to the Aussie Millions in this PartyPoker Weekly.

PartyPoker Winter Million

One of the biggest online tournaments of 2012 will be the $1 million guarantee PartyPoker Winter Million in February!

This is a big chance for you to start your year in style. The buy-in for the Winter Million is $600+$40 and PartyPoker has given players plenty of time to qualify for the event.

The tournament will take place on Feb. 5 and will be played in a championship format.

PartyPoker wants as many of their players as possible to take part in the $1 million event and have begun offering qualifiers from as little as $1. Imagine turning $1 into a share of a $1 million.

The new year is almost upon us but it is not too early to start thinking about taking part in the Winter Million and we can’t think of any better way to start a year than by winning a share of this gigantic prize pool.

Head to the Aussie Millions

There is only one tournament on the minds of poker players all around the world – the upcoming Aussie Millions in Melbourne, Australia.

The Main Event costs $10,600 to enter and will take place from Jan. 22 to Jan. 28, 2012. The best place to pick up a $16,000 tournament package is at PartyPoker.

Qualifiers start from as little as $2 and it has never been easier to be making your way Down Under to take part in the premier tournament series of the Southern Hemisphere.

$16,000 Aussie Millions Package

• $11,400 Aussie Millions Main Event buy-in
• Eight nights accommodation at the Crown Promenade Hotel, which is right next to the Crown Casino where the Aussie Millions is taking place
• $2,500 spending money

No More Rake

Thanks to PartyPoker, from Jan. 1 to Jan. 31 you will not have to pay any rake across the whole multi-table tournament schedule.

The above is not a typo. Players at PartyPoker will spend January saving thousands of dollars in tournament fees.

To add to the huge value of this coming January, players will also have the opportunity to cash in on a generous reload bonus and a $50,000 freeroll.

To receive a reload bonus of 100% up to $100, existing PartyPoker players must deposit at least $50 using the bonus code “RAKEFREE” during January.

If you make this minimum reload deposit using the bonus code above, you will also be eligible to take part in the $50,000 Depositors’ Freeroll. The huge value freeroll will take place on Feb. 5 at 1100 ET and since it’s so easy to qualify, there are simply no excuses for missing this event.

Merry Christmas From Tony G

In his latest blog, Tony G tells us that “Christmas is coming to the G household.” At least that’s what he told us before he began needling Phil Hellmuth. by offering him a “spiritual video.”

“At this time of year it is only right that you think about others in need, and have a deep and meaningful conversation with yourself about life, love and the cosmos. It is with this in mind that I channeled all my positive energy into this spiritual video message to Phil Hellmuth. The change from 2011 to 2012 is very significant for you I know Phil.”

Tony went on to suggest that Hellmuth’s time is up in the poker world and that he should consider retirement.

The very humorous video can be viewed on Tony G’s blog .

Free Poker Bankroll

Christmas is an expensive time of year but thanks to PartyPoker you can refill your wallet with free cash.

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