What happened to Ilari 'Ziigmund' Sahamies

15:04
13 Jun

He used to be on the top of the online poker world with huge winnings and crazy downswings. Whenever he sat at a poker table, live or online, his opponents got the chills. He attacked and attacked with reckless abandon, not caring about the money in play and definitely not caring about the players sitting next to him. He was one of the best trash talkers at the poker tables and he even went so far that he accepted the challenge of eating worms and moving disgusting oysters with his mouth.

Not anymore though! All of a sudden, Ilari Sahamies aka ‘Ziigmund’ is under the radar being mentioned only sporadically by the poker community. The old days when he used to aggress the likes of Tom Dwan, Patrik Antonius, Phil Ivey, Viktor ‘Isildur1’ Blom and even fellow compatriots like Joni Jouhkimainen are long gone, and all we have left are just a couple of poker videos to remind us about how the game was played back when Sahamies was still crushing.

So what happened to Ziigmund? Has he gone broke? Is he still playing poker? Or has Sahamies retired, no longer partying and drinking and spending like there is no tomorrow? And if he’s retired, what in the world is he doing now? Has he embraced another career? Maybe or… maybe not, but one thing is for sure, ladies and gents:

---

Ilari Sahamies Has Gotten Old

Yes, fellow poker enthusiasts, Father Time has finally caught up with Ilari Sahamies confirming once again an old saying: Nobody can defeat Father Time. Ok, he’s not that old, he’s only 33 to be exact, but in the poker business, where every day another wizkid is trying to threaten the top of the leaderboard, 33 is indeed old and the perfect time to take it easy.

Ilari himself predicted that almost four years ago, in Barcelona, during one of his many interviews at the European Poker Tour. When he was asked about his crazy style of play in 2012, Sahamies responded half-joking half-serious:

How about now though? Well, one fact is for sure: nowadays, Sahamies has other things to consider in life. Some much more important than shoving a big stack with a mediocre poker hand.

---

All-In On Fatherhood

Last year, Sahamies revealed, via social media, that his girlfriend Elina Alanne is pregnant. Interestingly enough, he bet that the child would actually be a baby girl, trusting his poker instincts more than ever. Unsurprisingly though, the poker reading skills don’t go along well with predicting the future business:

What “Ziigmund‘ said in his post was this - Google Translate version:

So now we know, the Finn is a proud father of a baby boy and he might be spending at least some of his time babysitting and helping the mother. So yeah, Ziggy fans, the days of partying hard and playing poker drunk are most likely over. Now he has to think about his son and about living to see his boy all grown-up. Who knows, maybe he'll embrace a poker career just like his dear old dad.

---

A New Career?

But that’s not all. Could you actually have pictured Sahamies staying all day babysitting his son? Now, we at PokerTube didn’t think so either, so he must have other activities to kill off his spare time right?

It’s not actually news when we reveal to you that Ilari Sahamies is a big rap fan. Not only that, but he’s actually a rapper. Yes, not news either as everyone has seen Ilari’s rap debut. If not, you can check it out below:

‘Ziigmund’ laughed about it back in 2012 at EPT Barcelona. Asked about whether rap could be his career after poker, the Finn responded confidently: “Yes, it will!” Back then, he didn’t write his own rap songs but he did say he was willing to try it.

Fast forward in 2015, Sahamies appeared in another Finnish rap video alongside three other rappers who call themselves the Teflon Brothers.

Apparently, he has been part of the band since 2014 and he actually paid €50,000 to join them. Money definitely ain’t a thing for Sahamies when it comes to rap.

The music video shows Ilari playing the game that made him famous but was it just for show or is Ziggy still playing poker?

---

Ilari Sahamies Still Plays Poker

Of course he does, and we have the facts to prove it. Yes, rapping may be a career, but it's not a full-time career for ‘Ziigmund’. He hasn’t forgotten where it all started and even though he said many times in the Full Tilt and PokerStars chat - ‘I don’t have any money left.’ - he still continues to play the highest stakes. Maybe not at the rate of 2008 and 2009 when he used to crush the Full Tilt nosebleeds and climb up high in the Pot Limit Omaha winners’ lists, but still good enough to make any opponent think twice before playing a hand against him. And maybe not with the same aggression as the good old days, but aggressive enough to compete with the best of the best.

Hard to believe? Not if you read the next lines.

---

Live Poker Tournaments

After EPT Barcelona in 2012, Sahamies made fewer and fewer poker headlines. He did participate in 2014 at the Finish Open Championships in his native town, Helsinki, and got quite a few cashes including a third place at an Omaha six-max event. Last year, he tried his luck at EPT Barcelona where he finished fourth in a turbo bounty No Limit Holdem event and was very close to taking down the EPT Malta €10,200 High Roller last October. He couldn’t beat red-hot Irish, Steve O’Dwyer, heads-up though, finishing second and cashing in €220,970.

This year, he missed most of the major poker tournaments but we do expect to see him back in the action for Season 13 of the EPT in Barcelona, late this summer. It’s probably his favourite stop in all poker. Yet don’t expect him to attend the World Series of Poker. In fact, the only time Sahamies attended the WSOP was in 2009, playing only one event, the $10,000 Pot Limit Championship. But he did stay for quite a while in Vegas playing the Bobby’s Room high stakes games and experiencing big swings in the process.

---

Online Poker

He didn’t disappoint the online poker community either. On Full Tilt, he played sporadically after the reopening using his notorious screename ‘Ziigmund’. When the nosebleeds stakes closed down, he did continued to play on PokerStars under the nickname ‘Ilari FIN’. This year for example, he played quite a few sessions for a total of 10,791 hands on PS, according to HighStakesDB. He lost over $34K while playing the mixed games, Fixed Limit Omaha 8 or Better, and PLO.

Last year, he lost almost $500K playing both 8-Game and PLO. He still doesn’t care much about what opponents he plays with - he had many encounters with Viktor Blom and Dani Stern - but he seems to care a lot more about his losings. Since he’s a father, he isn’t willing to experience million-dollar downswings and probably only plays for the fun of the game.

Expect more of the same in the future as he will slowly but surely let the new generation solve the poker puzzle. And who knows, maybe his son will pick up the game from him and become the next poker crusher. Wouldn’t that be something?

Have you seen Ilari Sahamies at the poker tables as of late? Does he play the same style he used to several years ago? Please share your thoughts with the rest of us in the comment section below.