Ilari "Ziigmund" Sahamies was born in Helsinki, Finland in 1983. With a strong competitive streak, he was always keen on sports and all sorts of games. In his school years he practised wrestling, soccer, basketball and diving. He became an excellent billiards player, winning two Finnish junior championships. It was at a local pool hall that he also met Patrik Antonius for the first time. "He was cool even back then”, Ilari says.

Ilari played poker for the first time when he was 15, in some home games with friends. Imagine playing in the same home game with Ilari Sahamies and Patrik Antonius. Well, some guys in Finland can now boast about that.

As poker started to interest Ilari more and more, eventually his high school studies began to suffer. He was nearly expelled for skipping school too many times, but he finally graduated after four years. At this point he was already looking at poker as a possible career. Just a couple of years later he became a pro.

Ilari played in a real casino - the Grand Casino Helsinki, the only casino in Finland - for the first time in 2001, and a year or two later he moved into online poker. He started at the $0.25/$0.5 level but moved up very quickly, going broke in the process numerous times. “I wanted the kicks and the excitement of higher levels, but I was always smart enough to move back down after a downswing," he says.

Eventually, he was playing in the highest stake games on the internet. Quickly he became known for his wild, high variance style - and for those now legendary sessions when he was calling his opponents all sorts of names and generally just throwing his money away. “I only make myself look stupid,” he says of his blow ups in the table chat, pointing to the fact that most of it is just humor anyway and the other players know that. Gradually he has gained more and more discipline and started winning on a steadier basis than before.

In 2008, Ziigmund won $1.6 million, and in the last 6 months (from August 2008 to January 2009) he made a profit of $2.6 million.

Ilari has failed to shine in major tournaments so far, though surprisingly he says he gets his best kicks from tournaments. "Tournament poker is great competition. When you bust out, you don't get another chance," he states. In January 2009 he made his best tournament score to date, cashing €125,000 for 2nd place in the Helsinki Freezeout. His total tournament cash-ins are $327,000. The heads up of the Helsinki tournament was Ilari at his best and worst - he was drunk out of his mind and finally started pushing every hand after an incident (involving him going to the gents in the middle of play and his opponent taking his blinds while he was away). Ilari shook hands with his opponent and later apologized for his behavior.

Ilari still lives in Helsinki and says he has no plans of moving abroad, even though he has to pay 50% taxes for all winnings from outside the EU countries. He says poker is his passion, his way of life and his hobby, and he won't get bored with it for a long time yet. What else does the future hold for him? "A happy life. A family with kids - eventually," he says.


You can now become friend and fan of Ziigmund on Facebook. To become a fan of Ziigmund please click here. All fans will be invited to special tournaments and promotions. Ilari "Ziigmund" Sahamies have also created an account on Facebook. Feel free to add him as a friend today and be a part of the exclusive club that will allow you to follow Ziigmunds daily life and see what he is up to! Ziigmund will from time to time make promotions exclusive for his friends and fans so add him as a friend here

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You can find Ilari "Ziigmund" Sahamies play on PowerPoker. Although he is a high stake player going for the biggest games possible, he will occasionally play at low and medium stake tables to give regular players a chance to play against a real professional. Ziigmund also has his own table named after him. Last but not least, Ziigmund will participate in several tournaments and unique PowerPoker promotions where players get to face him live.

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