Koen Roos, The Dutch Flaghunter

Koen Roos: I started playing poker with friends when I was 17 years old. We would have microstakes homegames that would last until the early morning. Later we found out the local pub had some small stakes tournaments, and we soon discovered we were better than everyone else. In the first official tournament I played in Holland Casino, I managed to finish in 3rd place after a 3-way deal. 

Koen Roos: When I was playing a tournament in Austria, I was having a bite in the casino restaurant. An older gentleman asked if he could sit with me. We had a lovely conversation, mostly about food. 

When I greeted him the next day, my friend said: “Oh I know that guy, that’s Casey Kastle. He’s the #1 flaghunter in the world.” Then he explained to me what flaghunting was, and I thought it would be a cool goal for myself.

Koen Roos: On average, I probably had 2 travel days a week this year.

Koen Roos: In Vietnam there was a super friendly poker atmosphere, everyone was just having fun and right away one of the players offered me a drink. The tables were big, so the dealers had craps rakes to rake in the cards and the chips. And I later found out you could even ask a waiter to buy you something from a street vendor!

Koen Roos: It can get quite lonely on the road, especially if you’re travelling to countries where you don’t speak the language. 

Koen Roos: In the Dominican Republic, the event was held on a resort. When I came back for my day 2 final table, security did not want to let me on the premise without clearance, even though I was put on the list days before. It took them 45 minutes to get clearance for me. 

When I arrived, the final table had already been running for 15 minutes. Luckily I managed to win it, otherwise it would still have haunted me.

Koen Roos: I’m guessing I cash around 15% of my buy-ins. Mind you, a lot of countries only have around 10-12% ITM, sometimes even lower!

Koen Roos: Just sleep it off and go again. I’m lucky to have only bricked 2 countries outside of Europe, so that definitely helps. When you keep making progress on your goal, it’s hard to be unhappy about it.

Koen Roos: For Europe I made a tier list in terms of frequency of events in said country. For instance, Norway and Monaco only have one series per year, so these have to take precendence over a country like France. 

For other continents, I just try to cram in as many countries as possible, because I don’t want to go back and forth between different continents. I got all my Asian flags in January, for example.

Koen Roos: Yes, if the money is significant I will risk the flag to amass chips around the bubble. When I’m playing a low stakes tournament, I will just play very tight around the bubble to make sure I get my flag, even though it goes against my nature.

Not necessarily because they are among my biggest cashes, but because I felt in full control in those tournaments and played my A game. Also very happy with my cash in Paraguay, because I don’t feel like going back there.

Koen Roos: New Zealand in general is just full of nice people and I loved playing poker there. If it wasn’t on the other side of the world, I would definitely visit more often. I also love the vibe in the Scandinavia. Iceland and Norway are definitely among my favourite stops!

Koen Roos: I meet other flaghunters quite often. If there is a country that hasn’t had a tournament in a while or there is a stop in a new country, I can count on the top people being there as well. For instance, 4 out of the 5 top flaghunters were in the Dominican Republic, because it had been 5 or 6 years since their last event. I sometimes even plan trips with other flaghunters Manoel and Aaron. 

Koen Roos: For 2025, I still have Germany, Switzerland, Romania, Serbia, Bahamas, Wales and England on my list. After 2025, it’s basically any flag I don’t have yet. It would be nice if I could find some tournament in Fiji maybe, but I’ve heard good things about Mauritius too.

Koen Roos: I don’t think I’m every truly done. Poker is still growing and legislation changes all the time. There might even be new countries or territories in 10 years!

Well who knows? We wish this flying Dutchman all the flags in the world.  Keen on following his journey, check out the impressive Hendon Mob profile here.