Vincent van der Fluit is the 1,700th-Best Player in the World
There was an open seat at Table 44 minutes ago, and to help pass the time, Jon Aguiar, Liv Boeree, and David "Doc" Sands decided to play a little game.
Aguiar and Sands played "Rock, Paper, Scissor," and the winner got to set a line which represented the skill level of the next player to sit down in the empty seat. The "line" would represent the player's ranking in the world at no-limit hold'em. Once the new player sat down, Boeree was allowed to watch them play two hands, then she would determine their ranking.
Aguiar won "Rock, Paper, Scissor," and set the line at 350. Sands took the over, meaning that he had the 350th-best player in the world and up, and Aguiar had the under.
Eventually, Vincent van der Fluit sat down, and after two hands, Boeree determined that he was the 1,700th-best player in the world. Aguiar was appalled.
Boeree didn't know who van der Fluit was.
"He won a bracelet," Sands said as Boeree was laughing, embarrassed.
"Well," Aguiar, a newly crowned bracelet winner, interjected. "Anyone can win a bracelet."
"Don't worry," Sands told van der Fluit. "At least you're ranked among the top 2,000 players."
According to the Global Poker Index, van der Fluit is ranked 334 in the world (what a great line by Aguiar). The Dutchman has over $500,000 in career live tournament earnings, including the $265,211 he pocketed for winning Event #11 of the 2012 World Series of Poker.