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Big Star was taken by police
suspected of drug dealing
His money was seized
Poker Star Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier was stopped in customs. And his money were confiscated. Cause: The police thought he was a drug dealer.
Frenchman Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier is the most successful poker player ever European Tour (EPT). When he flew from Barcelona recently, where he played EPT tournament, he was stopped at customs - and it apparently was not the first time.
"Ridiculous hairstyles"
"Poor ElkY. Probably because he has a hairstyle that is ridiculously spectacular right now, but it apparently was not the first time that duty stopped him, "writes Stephen Bartley in his poker blog at Aftonbladet.se.
As most have "ElkY" won the corresponding two million U.S. dollars (!) Only in a single tournament, the Bahamas in January 2008. In total he has won more than 5.8 million U.S. dollars in his career. That he carries with him large amounts of cash is therefore not so remarkable. Especially considering that the purchase is high. According to Sportbladet ElkY was clearly more than 10 000 on when he went away.
Lots of euro
"As the poker player he is, he had a lot of himlans euros in your pocket. No weird. I really do not know many players who move in and out of different countries without being over the 10, 000 (euros or dollars) that you may have on themselves, "writes Stephen Bartley.
The problem was that the customs police did not believe in "ElkY" when he said to be poker pros.
"They thought he had smuggled drugs. When they found all the money they thought instead that he was a drug dealer. "
Grospellier showed the customs police, a lot of links to poker articles, and pictures of him as a poker player, but to no avail. "The money was sent off to Madrid and he must prove that he won at the casino to get them back."
http://www.aftonbladet.se/sportbladet/poker/article5791766.ab
I used google translate
 
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wowwwowowow He is just too good and they won't believe him. But casino security cams should help get his money back.
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lol wtf evidence
he should sue for his money back and then some
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LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL poor ElkY xD. I can't help but laugh at the whole incident. Even after he showed them photos on the net they still didn't believe him. I wonder how he will *prove* the win in the casino, since they don't believe news on poker sites xD.
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Jeez,,, A drug dealer? How about looking for drugs instead of hair styles then. X_X
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Poor ElkY ):
Fucked up..
Should be able to get that money back though.. if not exactly easy.
Whata fuckin hassel.
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read the OP in a kazachstan borat voice
The problem was that the customs police did not believe in "ElkY" when he said to be poker pros.
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Wow.... that's harsh lol. Sorta weird  interesting
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lol well that sucks for him, but after he showed them the links to all his poker acomplishments why the hell would they not believe him? He on the pokerstar team even right?
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It seems like having the money shipped to your house, or having it wired to your bank account is a FAR simpler and safer way of dealing with it rather than just handing over mounds of cash.
That being said that is fucking hilarious!
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United States24660 Posts
Actually that's not surprising... carrying large amounts of money is suspicious and customs/police aren't always up on all the legitimate reasons for doing it. Good luck elky.
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On September 15 2009 04:50 LeperKahn wrote:
It seems like having the money shipped to your house, or having it wired to your bank account is a FAR simpler and safer way of dealing with it rather than just handing over mounds of cash.
That being said that is fucking hilarious! this is probably the reason customs had such a hard time believing him. do poker players usually carry briefcases of cash around? i for one would never have over a few hundred dollars on me, especially with the clutter and chaos of airports involved.
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United States4796 Posts
What, ElkY does drugs?
Kidding, kidding.
Good luck to him getting his money back.
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Poor Elky??
You say "poor" to a guy thats winning 5 million a year??
Elky doesnt know what a "private bank" means?? So he cant carry with him such an amount of money!!
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On September 15 2009 05:02 pR0gR4m3R wrote:
Poor Elky??
You say "poor" to a guy thats winning 5 million a year??
Elky doesnt know what a "private bank" means?? So he cant carry with him such an amount of money!!
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How are they able to seize his money if they have to evidence whatsoever regarding ANYTHING at all to back up any accusations?
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I've never liked Elky so I can't say I feel sorry for him. Quite the opposite, actually. 
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He's was buying expenisve punanny guys. So he needed that cash flow!
Anyways back on topic, I really hope that this works out well for him; even though it will.
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Haha I thought this was going to be another smuft like case. Hope he can get his money back soon.
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Lol wtf why would the police not believe him after seeing poker articles and everything. I mean jeez, all they have to do really is to check his wikipedia page...
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On September 15 2009 05:18 Phrogs! wrote:
Haha I thought this was going to be another smuft like case. Hope he can get his money back soon.
First thing that came to my mind, too
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You're supposed to declare large amounts of money (I know its over $10,000 USD here) when going through customs. Its absurd he'd have this much cash on him in the first place.
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innocent until proven otherwise?
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That is so ridiculous. It's easily verifiable that what he says is true.
Yeah, isn't it innocent until proven guilty? Customs agents should be fired.
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On September 15 2009 05:51 omgbnetsux wrote:
You're supposed to declare large amounts of money (I know its over $10,000 USD here) when going through customs. Its absurd he'd have this much cash on him in the first place.
Why is that absurd? Do you realize that he needs large sums of cash pretty much everywhere he goes?
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"oops, forgot about that $100,000 brick i had in my suitcase, my bad."
Would not be surprised if this is how it went down. Last season on High Stakes Poker, the players were chatting about how Legendary poker player Chip Reese was leaving a casino with a bag containing a lot of money (I'm pretty sure it was above six figures) put the bag on top of his car to unlock it, got in his car, forgot the bag was up there, and drove off.
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Lol. go authority. yet again your incompetence has ruined another day. think wed have an IQ test to come into the power to retain persons and their belongings.
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Sweden33719 Posts
On September 15 2009 05:00 redtooth wrote:Show nested quote +On September 15 2009 04:50 LeperKahn wrote:
It seems like having the money shipped to your house, or having it wired to your bank account is a FAR simpler and safer way of dealing with it rather than just handing over mounds of cash.
That being said that is fucking hilarious! this is probably the reason customs had such a hard time believing him. do poker players usually carry briefcases of cash around? i for one would never have over a few hundred dollars on me, especially with the clutter and chaos of airports involved.
Dude, you have no idea:
http://barrygreenstein.com/player_analysis/Tuan_Le.html
Amusing anecdote
Tuan went to Foxwoods in 2004 to play in the final event. Not surprisingly, he lost the $14,000 he brought with him shooting dice. He wanted to fly back home, but the nearby airports were snowed in. My girlfriend offered to lend him money for the entry. Even though Tuan needed the money, he turned down the loan because he hates to impose on other people, including his friends. Hasan Habib borrowed $3000 from Ted Forrest to put himself, Tuan, and Mohammed Ibrahim into the last $1000 satellite. Hasan asked for 25% of Tuan’s action in exchange for Tuan owing him $500. Tuan went on to win a seat in the main event and then bested a field of 674 players to capture the $1.55 million first prize.
Tuan took his share in cash, since he didn’t have a bank account. He bought a duffle bag at the gift shop and then took a limo to New York with his friends, so he could catch the next flight out. Hasan stayed in New York, but Thor Hansen and Nam Le accompanied Tuan to JFK airport. When they went through security, Tuan was asked what was in the bag. He told them he had over $1 million in cash. They laughed at the obvious joke, but stopped laughing when the bag was opened.
Tuan and his friends were allowed on the plane without much hassle, much to their surprise. When they arrived in Long Beach, they were immediately greeted by the FBI. Tuan showed them a printout with his picture, which told of his tournament win. After many questions and verification with the Foxwoods Casino, Tuan and his friends were released after being detained for over an hour.
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He could play them in poker.
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haha that's pretty funny, hopefully he doesn't have too difficult a time retrieving his money though.
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On September 15 2009 05:02 pR0gR4m3R wrote:
Poor Elky??
You say "poor" to a guy thats winning 5 million a year??
Elky doesnt know what a "private bank" means?? So he cant carry with him such an amount of money!!
To a guy that wins 5 mil a year, carrying 10k in a bag is pocket change.
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This is really not that shocking stop making a big deal out of things, saying he shouldn't carry large amounts of cash, blaming custom agents or even suggesting they should be fired. It's all retarded. This stuff isn't super uncommon it's very convenient for poker players to carry large amounts of cash because you need cash for buyins, cash games etc it's just the easiest way to go about things. At the same time you can't seriously expect custom agents to put a lot of faith in a guy walking around with 50k+.
It's just an event that's going to happen every now and then. All the opinionated reactions are seriously stupid.
On September 15 2009 05:02 pR0gR4m3R wrote:
Poor Elky??
You say "poor" to a guy thats winning 5 million a year??
Elky doesnt know what a "private bank" means?? So he cant carry with him such an amount of money!!
With this reading comprehension such judgmental reactions it's only going to be a matter of time how long you last here. Career does not equal year, and poker winnings do not equal profit. I suggest you bother thinking about your replies before you post them. It would do all of us a favor.
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Haha, this is really unfortunate for Elky, but hilarious at the same time.
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also why post this in your blog and not as a topic? it doesn't really concern you more than others
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What is he doing bringing all that money physically with him on the plane?
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Wow, thats a huge fuckup lol. He better get that money back.
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NeverGG
United Kingdom5399 Posts
At least it should be very easy for him to prove his occupation.
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Wow thats a shame, best of luck to him with fixing the misunderstanding.
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Waiting for Drunkrul to bust in here.. ranting about what great man ElkY is...
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On September 15 2009 09:09 vRoOk wrote:
Waiting for Drunkrul to bust in here.. ranting about what great man ElkY is...
Shut up elky is the best player ever and is so good he runs 50000 buyins under EV and still crushes
Also I think I read another thread here last week that he scammed a ton of entrants for a SC tournament and then rigged the final matches by having a pro maphack or some shit? Has he paid the people he scammed back?
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Valhalla18444 Posts
ROFL
YES ELKY YOU MUST PAY FOR YOUR CRIMES DURING WDT
YOU MUST PAAAAAAY
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Snet
United States3573 Posts
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The reason why the took him to custody is because he was carrying more money than that was allowed without permission. There is for some reason a limit on how much money you can carry around.
EDIT: OMG the reason they thougth he was a drugdealer was because of his hair,according to the police Elky had a typical hairstyle that most drugdealers has, and that they found him walking around with more money than what was allowed.
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one way to improve a $5,000,000 bankroll is international drug smuggling. . .
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poor poor elky 
I love watching him on tv playing poker 
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why would you carry so much cash with you? deposit it in a bank first, maybe?
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Osaka27140 Posts
On September 15 2009 09:38 Integra wrote:
There is for some reason a limit on how much money you can carry around.
No there isn't. You can carry a billion dollars with you if your arms are big enough. There is just a limit to how much you can bring into a country without declaring it, which is usually about 10k. What is unclear is if he declared his money or not (from the results I think he didn't). If you declare your cash, then you fill out a form declaring its source. If you do not declare it, and it is found, chances are it will be looked at poorly. If Elky failed to declare his money, then it is his own fault. That said, he can still get it back with a bit of hassle.
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On September 15 2009 07:45 sixghost wrote:
What is he doing bringing all that money physically with him on the plane?
Reading a few of the posts before yours it is entirely for convenience because of the lifestyle he lives it's much easier to just have it on hand.
I think it's a pretty funny situation, and that they would jump to that conclusion based on his appearance etc. But can't really blame them if they're all ignorant about the poker world
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Im sure Elky has forgotten what spare change is.
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On September 15 2009 05:14 minus_human wrote:
How are they able to seize his money if they have to evidence whatsoever regarding ANYTHING at all to back up any accusations?
Super standard. You have to declare the money that you are carrying with you and there might still be limits on how much cash you can have at the border. Use plastic more.
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Anything over 10k needs to be declared. But carrying around 10k USD in pure cash is pretty fishy.
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On September 15 2009 07:23 Liquid`Nazgul wrote:
This is really not that shocking stop making a big deal out of things, saying he shouldn't carry large amounts of cash, blaming custom agents or even suggesting they should be fired. It's all retarded. This stuff isn't super uncommon it's very convenient for poker players to carry large amounts of cash because you need cash for buyins, cash games etc it's just the easiest way to go about things. At the same time you can't seriously expect custom agents to put a lot of faith in a guy walking around with 50k+.
It's just an event that's going to happen every now and then. All the opinionated reactions are seriously stupid.
umm how is it normal to take his money for "drugdealing", when there is no proof that's what it is for? or even evidence for that matter.
or am I understanding something incorrectly?
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I wonder if Elky reads TL.net. Gief official statement please!
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Ok so Aftonbladet is regarded as Swedens worst newspaper.
They twist anything into sounding worse than it is which this article is an example of. I'm sure NOTHING at all will happen about this all and he will receive his money again.
The article headline made it sound like he was actually held on drug charges, which after reading a couple of lines turned out to be bullshit. Then this smaller headline said "ridiculous haircut" which of course was a conscious effort to twist the quote of the person in the article who said that Elkys hair is "ridiculously eye-opening" right now. Her point was that this would be the view of other people
Anyways, nothing to see here. Nothing at all lol, this newspaper sucks.
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On September 15 2009 18:40 travis wrote:Show nested quote +On September 15 2009 07:23 Liquid`Nazgul wrote:
This is really not that shocking stop making a big deal out of things, saying he shouldn't carry large amounts of cash, blaming custom agents or even suggesting they should be fired. It's all retarded. This stuff isn't super uncommon it's very convenient for poker players to carry large amounts of cash because you need cash for buyins, cash games etc it's just the easiest way to go about things. At the same time you can't seriously expect custom agents to put a lot of faith in a guy walking around with 50k+.
It's just an event that's going to happen every now and then. All the opinionated reactions are seriously stupid.
umm how is it normal to take his money for "drugdealing", when there is no proof that's what it is for? or even evidence for that matter. or am I understanding something incorrectly?
So what are they gonna do, let him go? They don't have that much of a choice and I agree with Nazgul. The customs were just doing their jobs, although they seemed to be a pretty hard bunch to convince
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So then all the drug dealing stuff had nothing to do with them taking the money?
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On September 15 2009 19:31 travis wrote:
So then all the drug dealing stuff had nothing to do with them taking the money?
Yeah, they stopped him because they thought he looked like a drug dealer and carried around a big suitcase full of money. He has to prove that he won the money in a casino, but I don't think this will be a problem. This will be settled very soon imo
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so they arrested him based on his hairstyle and him carrying a lot money and ignored proof that explained his behavior? Wait... which country is this?
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On September 15 2009 07:40 Liquid`Nazgul wrote:
also why post this in your blog and not as a topic? it doesn't really concern you more than others
because i don't know how to start a topic
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On September 15 2009 20:26 madnessman wrote:
so they arrested him based on his hairstyle and him carrying a lot money and ignored proof that explained his behavior? Wait... which country is this?
Yeah kind of weird. If he had a passport and showed them pictures of him from various tournaments, I have no idea how he didn't manage to get through.
The article basically says the he was "stopped at customs flying from Barcelona" but it's not clear if it's the spanish customs or the customs of the country he was flying to.
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On September 15 2009 20:31 hohan wrote:Show nested quote +On September 15 2009 07:40 Liquid`Nazgul wrote:
also why post this in your blog and not as a topic? it doesn't really concern you more than others because i don't know how to start a topic
Also, why would you use google translate on this small article when your main language is swedish?
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On September 15 2009 21:49 Foucault wrote:Show nested quote +On September 15 2009 20:31 hohan wrote:On September 15 2009 07:40 Liquid`Nazgul wrote:
also why post this in your blog and not as a topic? it doesn't really concern you more than others because i don't know how to start a topic Also, why would you use google translate on this small article when your main language is swedish?
So people that doesn't have swedish as their main language can read it to
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On September 15 2009 22:00 hohan wrote:Show nested quote +On September 15 2009 21:49 Foucault wrote:On September 15 2009 20:31 hohan wrote:On September 15 2009 07:40 Liquid`Nazgul wrote:
also why post this in your blog and not as a topic? it doesn't really concern you more than others because i don't know how to start a topic Also, why would you use google translate on this small article when your main language is swedish? So people that doesn't have swedish as their main language can read it to
lol
my point was obviously why you didn't translate it yourself considering how short it is, and how bad the google translate turned out.
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Korea (South)17174 Posts
last time in korea cuz of my blonde hair and his red hair and bling ppl asked us if we were rockstars like 25% of the time
lolol
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On September 15 2009 19:31 travis wrote:
So then all the drug dealing stuff had nothing to do with them taking the money?
Drug dealers need some way to move money across national borders, although they have much better ways of doing so than running them through customs.
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is awesome32274 Posts
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Elky should use his money to form a bw team in korea. a foreign one of course! ^^
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Wait so they just saw him with lots of money and no drugs or any proof or evidence of drugs at all? what a fucking joke. I'd be so pissed.
But also, it is pretty LOL that they didn't believe him when he went on the computer and shit.
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EPT
