Could You Chase This Astonishing Poker World Record?
It's pretty much the ultimate dream, right? Take a break from work, travel the world, and play poker almost anywhere you feel like.
For recreational player Koen Roos, that dream became a reality in 2025.
The Dutchman racked up an astonishing 50 flags in a single calendar year to top The Hendon Mob's annual Flag Hunter race, and now he hopes to have it officially recognized as a new world record after surpassing Dominick French's count of 48 in 2024.
With cashes stretching from Cambodia to Ecuador, and everywhere in between, it naturally begs the questions: What? Why? And just how is that even possible?
Well, PokerNews wanted to find out, so we sat down with Roos to discover how on earth he managed it and whether card-inspired globetrotting is really as fun as it sounds.
A Chance Meeting With a Legend
To discover how a recreational poker player becomes a full-time flag hunter, it makes sense to go back to the start. In a story that will be familiar to many, Roos explains that he fell in love with the game after his friends became concerned about his slightly unhealthy obsession with online gaming.
“I was at a friend’s, we were gaming all the time, and his sister and brother-in-law said, ‘We need to get you from behind the screen.’ So we started playing poker for very small stakes. It developed into a home game group. We were playing €5 tournaments until seven in the morning because we were just enjoying it so much.”
After months of crushing home games, it was time to take on the wider Dutch poker fraternity, where Roos discovered his kitchen-table education had stood him in pretty good stead. “There was a cafe nearby that ran €10 and €20 tournaments, and when we entered, we were like, ‘We’re beating these guys pretty hard,’” he laughs.
The next step was the Holland Casino, where Roos finished 3rd in his first-ever official tournament and won €3,300 after a three-way deal, describing it as "huge money because I was still in high school.” It's safe to say he'd caught the poker bug.
After years of playing and enjoying the game in his homeland, Roos says the idea of flag hunting "developed gradually," but really started to take hold after a chance encounter with the late poker legend Casey Kastle.
“I met him by coincidence in Austria,” says Roos, referring to the respected Slovenian pro who became the first player in poker history to record 50 cashes across 50 different countries before his passing in 2024.
From that moment, a new hobby took shape. “I decided to go for niche countries. I got Monaco and Norway in 2024, and then I planned a vacation to New Zealand and thought, while I’m there, I should get New Zealand and Australia too.”
Chasing the Record
With his ambition now set, Roos, an IT consultant in his everyday life, identified 2025 as the year to have a full tilt at the record.
He explains, "I’m in IT consultancy, and normally January is very dry if your project ends in December. My manager said, ‘If you want, you can just take January off.' I’m single and I don’t have a pet, so if I’m going to do it, I’m going to do it now."
With the logistics of such a challenge almost as difficult as the feat itself, Roos says, “I created a tier list for countries I had to prioritize. Monaco and Norway only happen once a year, so you have to put those ahead of somewhere like the UK.”
While certain stops are penciled in well in advance, many events, especially the smaller ones, will only announce tournaments "one or two months in advance, not half a year."
With that in mind, and January booked off, Roos's only option was to "go all in early and just see where it would take me,” he says as we discuss the year's first stops in East Asia.
“When you cash, most people go to sleep. I’m in my hotel room searching flights and figuring out where I can go next.”
Early momentum came quickly, with cashes in Japan, Cambodia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and South Korea, alongside tournament victories in Vietnam and Taiwan, all packed into a remarkable 20-day period.
“In Japan, I planned three days, but it took five. Then Cambodia reduced its starting days, so plans changed again. You have to adapt constantly,” he says with a surgical precision. “When you cash, most people go to sleep. I’m in my hotel room searching flights and figuring out where I can go next.”
Firmly on course after a strong start, Costa Rica soon followed, alongside a constant stream of cashes across Europe in the first half of the year. Reflecting on the day-to-day reality of flag hunting and how it fit around work commitments, Roos explains, “My project only required me to be in the office on Mondays, so I’d fly out Monday or Tuesday evening, play evenings and weekends, and work from the hotel room.”
However, by the year's midway mark, and still on pace for the record, Roos decided to fully commit and took a three-month sabbatical before embarking on a trip to South America.
The Relentless Grind
Unlike cigarettes, which carry a health warning, no tournament buy-in ever came labeled 'Warning: this game may seriously damage your mental health,' yet it’s a feeling every poker player knows all too well.
When asked about the mental and physical toll that comes from such a relentless schedule of travelling and tournament poker, Roos admits, “It’s very tiring, but I’ve had a good run, so that helps. Outside Europe, I only missed three countries. You’re committed, so you don’t really have an option. If there are two more days of tournaments, you’re just going to play.”
"You’re committed, so you don’t really have an option."
The pressure of jetting off to a far-flung land, time and resources not unlimited, and knowing you have to cash is one that will be understood by only a select group of players.
Reflecting on his South American excursion, Roos says, “Paraguay was such a hassle. Five hours by taxi to get there and eight hours by bus to leave. The pressure is real in places like that. After bubbling once and soft bubbling twice, getting the flag in the last event was such a relief.”
A Year Well Spent
Overall, however, Roos is very upbeat about his record-breaking year and beams as he shares some of the highlights from his jet-setting exploits.
After 50 cashes, and playing in more tournaments besides, he says, “Monaco [EPT Monte Carlo] and the Bahamas [WSOP Paradise] are huge events and very well put together, but Iceland was six tables and amazing vibes. People were just happy you were there.”
“Sometimes the country itself is the highlight. I love New Zealand,” he says, having cashed there late in 2024 alongside Australia. Since both fell within a 12-month period rather than a single calendar year, they could potentially be added to the official Guinness World Records, bringing his total to 52.
It's also a buzz bumping into other members of the small but deeply passionate flag-hunting community. “Running into other flag hunters is always fun. I ran into Dominick [French] in Ecuador without even knowing he was playing there,” adds Roos.
So, what's next? More of the same? Kind of, says Roos, but not exactly.
“My long-term goal is to get to 100 total flags over the next ten years, mostly during my vacation.” If 2025 was anything to go by, you wouldn't bet against him.
Koen Roos's Record-Breaking 2025 in Cashes
Photos courtesy of Koen Roos.
