Known online as “Ziigmund”, Ilari Sahamies is one of the most colorful emerging poker personalities.

He plays high stakes cash games online (mostly at Full Tilt Poker) and he is renowned for his reckless style. He doesn’t refrain from calling his foes all sorts of names, especially when he’s on a losing streak. He shows no respect to anyone, he doesn’t care if it’s Phil Ivey he’s playing against or if it’s Gus Hansen. He does admit though that most of his online trash-talking is meant as a joke rather than anything else.

Born in 1983, in Helsinki, Sahamies has always been a competitive spirit. He was involved with all sorts of sports like wrestling, basketball, soccer and even diving.

He used to be a top pool player and it was in one of Helsinki’s notorious pool-halls that he first met Patrik Antonious who apparently become a sort of a role model of him.

Sahamies started playing poker at the age of 15, in home games with friends.

He decided he’d take poker up as a career while in high school, and because of his level of interest in the game, he barely attended classes. He did manage to graduate though, and he did indeed go on to become a poker professional.

He played his first live casino game in 2001, and was immediately sucked into the world of live poker. He did attempt to move up the stakes several times and failed. He says he was always wise enough to move back down the stakes though when the going got too harsh.

Ilari Sahamies is known today all over the poker community on account of his online cash game antics. He hasn’t yet had much success in live tournaments although interestingly enough, he says tournament play is of the most interest to him.

 Even though he earned more than $2.6 million in cash games alone in the 6 months spanning from August 2008 to January 2009, his biggest tournament cash to date is a EUR 125,000 one which he pocketed for his second place in the Helsinki Freezeout, in January 2009.

His tournament winnings total about $327,000.

His Helsinki performance went down in the poker history books not only on account of his achievement but also on account of the fact that he played dead drunk.

You’ll also find him playing online at the newly opened online poker room, PowerPoker where he’ll descend to lower limits too for the sake of the room’s customers.