Poker Player - Thomas Preston, AKA Amarillo Slim
Thomas Austin Preston Jnr was born in Johnson, Arkansas, on New Year's Eve 1928, but to the Poker world and beyond, he is better known as Amarillo Slim. He moved to Amarillo, Texas, with his father whilst still young, and at the age of 16, he joined first the Navy, and then the army. In these heady days of his youth, he developed not only a taste for gambling, but a skill too.
Amarillo Slim is one of the "old time" poker players, but his first love was actually pool. And despite his extensive history and fame on the poker circuit, he continues to list his official profession as "professional pool player". A successful pool hustler, he is famously reputed to have won five Cadillac's in a week of pool playing in San Francisco! It was in the 1950's however, that he started to turn his attention to the card tables.
Slim's best friend was Benny Binion, the Las Vegas Legend, who is responsible for the World Series of Poker, as it exists today. In an interview, Slim confessed that he had never played poker with Binion, but that he had let his friend play his hand one day. Binion died in 1989, bequeathing his horse to Slim, who misses him to this day. Amarillo Slim's other contemporaries were Doyle Brunson and Brian "Sailor "Roberts. With friends like these, it was almost inevitable that Amarillo Slim would not only enter the world of professional poker, but also take a hand in its evolution.
In 1972, Amarillo Slim won the World Series of Poker main event at Benny Binion's Horseshoe, following which he became an honorary ambassador of the sport by going on several national talk shows. He has appeared on Johnny Carson a total of 11 times, and convinced Tom Snyder of The Tomorrow Show to dedicate an entire show to himself, Benny Binion and Joe Bernstein.
To date, Amarillo Slim holds a place in Poker's Hall of Fame, The Legends of Nevada, the Seniors Hall of Fame, the Horseshoe's Hall of Fame, and has also won 4 World Series of Poker Bracelets (2 for Omaha). He has had 8 money finishes in the WSOP and total recorded winnings of $517,752. In 2006, with new players making millions of dollars a year through poker, this does not seem like such a vast sum. Take into account the fact that the 1972 WSOP money was $80,000 compared to Joe Hachem's 2005 win of $7.5 million, and the figure is a far greater achievement.
But there is more to Amarillo Slim than poker tournaments. A man, who would famously bet on anything going, is, in his own words, "the greatest gambler who ever lived". He is a hustler, a storyteller, a great character who will go down in history. In May 2003, he published his autobiography, "Amarillo Slim in a World Full of Fat People" to critical acclaim. He has played poker with Richard Nixon and Larry Flynt. He has an old timers charm and simplicity, and confidence. He does not consider himself an ordinary hustler, looking for a sucker: "I look for a champion and make a sucker out of him."
Amarillo Slim has been married to his wife, Helen, for over 53 years, with whom he has 3 children and 7 grandchildren. He still lives on his 3000 acre ranch on the outskirts of Amarillo. Sadly, in February 2004 he was charged with misdemeanour assault on his granddaughter, and paid a $4000 fine with 2 years deferred adjudication, a crime which has reduced his appearances on the poker circuit, and also brought a dark mark onto his colourful history.
His personal circumstances aside though, Thomas Austin Amarillo Slim Preston remains a truly great poker legend, best immortalised in the words of the song by John Lutz Ritter, "Do You Dare Make a Bet with Amarillo Slim?" - "Hell the Devil don't bet with Amarillo Slim."
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