Pro Shot Roller

Who is Ziigmund on Full Tilt Poker?

Ilari Sahamies has become one of the best high stakes poker players in the world, both online and live. His popularity began with him crushing European online games using the alias ‘Ziigmund' and for his wild drunken rants at the online poker tables. In this article we reveal how the Finnish pro has become one of pokers biggest superstars, winning millions along the way.

Sahamies was born in Helsinki, Finland, in 1983. As a teenager he excelled in sports, especially soccer, wrestling and diving, however his interest shifted to billiards and soon he was excelling at that too, winning the Finnish Junior Championships twice. Sahamies was only 15 years old when his interest shifted to poker after watching a Texas Hold'em programme on television. He mentioned seeing the programme to his billiard friends and was invited to a home game which turned out to be at Patrik Antonius' home! He soon found himself hooked on poker and wanted to play all the time, even letting it effect school as he regularly skipped it in order to play. However he did manage to graduate at 18 years old, though instead of going on to college he began going to the Grand Casino Helsinki to play poker.

He began playing $5/$5 Pot-Limit Omaha and was regularly winning and moving up in stakes. By 2002 he was crushing the games at the Casino and was a regular face at the tables, he then found online poker and decided to give it a shot. Sahamies created several accounts at various European poker sites and began by playing $50 buy-in NLHE and PLO cash games. He would move up in stakes very quickly, often playing above his bankroll due to poor bankroll management, however he always managed to grind it all back by spending up to 15 hours a day multi-tabling the online games. Sahamies would often play drunk and this showed in his chat talk and soon the whole poker community were discussing his drunken antics and how he would flip pots worth thousands.

In 2006 he decided to open an account at Full Tilt Poker, and was quickly crushing the cash games playing under his alias ‘Ziigmund' against Phil Ivey, David Benyamine and friend Patrik Antonius. When he joined Full Tilt Poker the biggest games available were $50/$100, which then grew to $100/$200, to $200/$400, and then to $500/$1000 which continue to be the highest available anywhere online. As the stakes rose, so did Sahamies winnings, with a rumoured profit of $1.8 million in 2008.

2009 has been an even more exciting year for Sahamies. Firstly he featured on season five of GSN's ‘High Stakes Poker' playing alongside Tom Dwan, Patrik Antonius and various other high stake pros. He was in Vegas for the 2009 WSOP, however he only played in one event (the $10k PLO), and was refused entry to the Main Event because it was sold out. Instead of playing the tournaments he was in Bobby's Room taking high stakes poker to a whole other level. The crazy action saw him play two of the largest pots he ever has – one he won, and one he lost. The pot he won was worth a staggering $1.7 million however despite running it twice he lost a $2.4 million pot to Patrik Antonius.

Despite being a cash game specialist, Sahamies has played in several poker tournaments over the years, the largest being the Helsinki Poker Championships where he finished second for $170,434. Most recently he finished 6th in the £20,000 EPT London High Roller event for £74,000, and was also a part of Team Europe in the Caesars Cup where they defeated an American team of players.

About the Author

Alan P has reviewed poker sites and bonuses such as the Real Deal Poker bonus, ub poker review and ub poker download guide.

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About the Author

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