In 2024, Dominick French achieved a record that will be very difficult to beat: he earned cashes from live tournaments in 4⃣8⃣ different countries. Of the 365 days of the year, he spent 300 of them in hotel rooms. For this incredible milestone, he won the FlagHunter ranking that The Hendon Mob maintains every year and received an award at the Global Poker Awards in Las Vegas.
You can watch his emotional speech in this video:
These are the 48 countries where Dominick achieved results last year: Canada, United States, Greece, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Belgium, Portugal, France, Slovenia, Mauritius, South Africa, Netherlands, Madagascar, Germany, Philippines, Taiwan, Estonia, Cyprus, Switzerland, Uruguay, Argentina, Mexico, Denmark, Georgia, Latvia, North Macedonia, Norway, Croatia, Armenia, Finland, Italy, Wales, Andorra, Spain, Aland Islands, Vietnam, Malaysia, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Austria, Cambodia, Liechtenstein, Hungary, Sweden, Scotland, Malta and Poland.
This is what all countries look like on a map:
During 2024, Dominick recorded 80 cashes, 46 final tables, 6 third places, 2 second places, and 10 titles 🏆, earning $78K. His biggest result came when he won the Venetian DeepStack Showdown NLH $400 Event #5 in Las Vegas for $4,6K. With the 48 countries he collected in 2024 and the 5 in 2025, he brought his personal tally to 63 and is the player with the most flags in Hendon Mob, surpassing his closest rival by 10.
Interview with Dominick French
How does it feel to be crowned the 2024 FlagHunter? Was this a goal you had or did it come about naturally as you traveled?
Let me start this interview by thanking God and Jesus for my incredible life and helping me safely to travel around the world 🌍 twice, I could not have done it without them. It feels wonderful to get the record for the year. Yes, it did come about naturally as I was just trying to tie and then pass the previous record of 21 countries in one year. Then when I hit 22 flags I said to myself maybe I could get 23. I just only thought one flag ahead: 24 then 25, not knowing myself where I would end up and now we know it was 4️⃣8️⃣.
How did you manage the logistics of visiting so many countries? Were you trying to go “by continent”?
It was a lot of flying throughout the world 🌍 and I would try to make the most of an area. So for example I got Australia 🇦🇺 which tied in with New Zealand 🇳🇿 and I wanted to be the first person to cash in all 6 continents in the world, so I had my work cut out for me.
We saw that you were unable to get any cashes in Brazil. Which flags were the most difficult to obtain this year?
Well, I had Brazil from 2023 so I can only be in one place at a time. It was hard decisions sometimes as to which countries to hit as Brazil is that example. Some of the different flags were the ones where you had to take multiple ways of transportation to actually get where the tournament was held, like Armenia 🇦🇲 or when they would make the payouts (ITM) less than 10% like Denmark 🇩🇰.
With these results you reached 63 flags in your career and surpassed the fondly-remembered Casey Kastle. What memories do you have of him? Did you ever share a table or trip with him?
It was my honour to tie and then to pass Mr. Kastle. I remember looking at his flag count many times thinking to myself: how did he get so many flags? I never got the chance to play or meet him. I wish I would have as Mr. Kastle put the Flaghunter leaderboard category on Hendon Mob on the map, for everyone to aspire to. I hope that I can only make him proud of me and I know he is looking down on me with his blessings 🙏🏻.
Tell us about your experience at the 2024 Global Poker Awards and what receiving this award meant to you.
The awards were so well organized, it ran so smooth and Hans Kleinman and the Hendon Mob team did such a great job. The award is really special as they have only been three other poker players to receive this award, two of them have passed away and it is a honour the be in their company. I feel very blessed to have been chosen for this award and I thank God for my incredible life.
Of your 63 flags, which is your favorite to have earned?
I would have to say my favourite flag all time was Chile 🇨🇱 in 2014, when I went to play the LAPT (Latin American Poker Tour). I was not an experienced player at all, so to get that flag was very exciting for me. I sucked out in spots but I was so new still that I didn’t even realize how bad I sucked out on people, but I definitely heard about how bad of a player I was on the breaks!
What flags would you like to add in the future?
I have actually added five more country flags to my list bringing my new total of flags to 6️⃣3️⃣ now: Senegal 🇸🇳, Morocco 🇲🇦, Costa Rica 🇨🇷, Colombia 🇨🇴 and Paraguay 🇵🇾.
We noticed that you still don’t have the international cruise ship flag. Do you have plans to board one in 2025?
Yes that is true as I don’t have that one yet, but at this point I have no plans for that one as of yet.
In 2006 you met Eli Elezra and several other legends at Bellagio’s “Bobby’s Room” (now called Legends Room). What are your memories of that experience?
The best way I can describe it would be like being a kid in a candy 🍭 store. Imagine sitting in a room meeting a lot of the players that you watched at home on TV, and yet there I was sitting and talking with all of them. They were so nice to me and I will never forget all of there kindness towards me.
In 2008 you managed to cash in at the $25K WPT World Championship in Las Vegas. What was it like to play in that prestigious tournament? Did you share a table with any well-known players?
I was in awe the whole time I played in that tournament, at that time it was the biggest tournament that you could play in the world. I got moved tables like 3-4 times and as you can imagine it just keep getting harder to play and I was not a very good player at that time, but I knew when to fold or make a move and that was it. I played with Tom “Durrrr” Dwan, Daniel Negreanu, Howard Lederer, Gus Hansen, Chris Ferguson, Jennifer Harman, Brian Rast, Doyle Brunson, Carlos Mortenson, Andy Black and also the eventual winner of the tournament David Chiu.
Your wife Rhonda travels with you and plays tournaments as well. What is she like as a poker travel companion? Is it true that you eliminated her in some tournaments? Do the two of you make last longer bets?
Rhonda is amazing to travel with! We support each other and always talk about how incredible of a life we have. Yes, we have both knocked each other out, but we don’t have any last longer bets. We just have the bragging rights for the day, and we love to joke with each other about it.
In 2023, you won your first WSOP Circuit ring. How did that feel? Would you consider that to be your biggest achievement so far?
It felt amazing to get the Circuit ring; I really worked hard to get it and I will make a plan to focus on rings in the future. My biggest achievement to date was receiving The Hendon Mob award at the Global Poker Awards here in Las Vegas the other night.
Now that you’ve broken both records, are you going to take a break from touring in 2025 or will you still be playing some festivals?
Well I would say I will keep playing just at a slower pace, I don’t see myself going around the world twice in one year again.
What goals and dreams do you have with poker?
I take it day by day, but my next immediate goal is to get 2️⃣7️⃣5️⃣ cashes on Hendon Mob and to make it to 1️⃣2️⃣5️⃣ final tables. I am currently sitting at 2️⃣7️⃣2️⃣ & 1️⃣2️⃣2️⃣.
Your Facebook says that you have a goal of visiting 195 countries in the world and that you have already visited 164 of them. Is this true?
Yes! I am at 1️⃣6️⃣4️⃣ countries now with only 3️⃣1️⃣ more to step foot in to get to that magic 1️⃣9️⃣5️⃣. It has taken me over 4️⃣0️⃣ years so far and I still have a long way to go.
When you reach 195 countries, I think you’ll have enough material to write a great book about your life. What do you think of that idea
I have been asked many times about a book, but I am not sure where to even start with that idea at this point. Maybe one day.
Dominick started out his 2025 campaign by collecting cashes in 5 countries so far: Senegal, Morocco, Costa Rica, Colombia and Paraguay. One of those results was at the Costa Rica Poker Festival, where he placed third in a Mystery Bounty event and his wife Rhonda won the LIPS Ladies event. As you can see, the couple continues to travel and be successful around the world.
If you want to see photos of all the countries Dominick visited, you can do so via his Facebook page.
About The Author
