{"id":2105,"date":"2019-04-01T13:02:01","date_gmt":"2019-04-01T13:02:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.planet7casino.com\/?p=2105"},"modified":"2024-03-08T10:43:28","modified_gmt":"2024-03-08T10:43:28","slug":"poker-legend-amarillo-slim","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.planet7casino.com\/other\/poker-legend-amarillo-slim\/","title":{"rendered":"Poker Legend Amarillo Slim"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A Texas poker legend should be larger than life, as\nwith all things Texan. He should also have a hustler\u2019s keen wit, an unflappable\nurge to win, a good sense of humor, and a Southerner\u2019s way with words. And when\nthe chips are down, he relieves you of yours with a smile, leaving his\noutrageously funny words ringing in your ears: \u201cSon, you had as good a chance\nof beating me as getting a French kiss out of the Statue of Liberty.\u201d And with\nthat, you\u2019ve just been beaten by one of the best: poker legend Amarillo Slim<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s in a Name?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Born Thomas Austin Preston, Jr., Amarillo Slim got his nickname from his early gambling days as a pool hustler, long before he became part of the original Texas Road Gamblers, along with \u201cTexas Dolly\u201d Brunson and \u201cSailor\u201d Roberts<\/a>. It also helped that he was raised in Amarillo, and at 6 foot four, 170 pounds, stood about as slim as your chances of beating him at poker. Thomas Preston was born in Johnson, Arkansas, but his parents moved to Turkey, Texas when he was baby. After they divorced, Slim\u2019s father moved him to Amarillo. He was later quoted as being extremely thankful that he didn\u2019t end up in Turkey, Texas: \u201cAmarillo Slim sounds a heck of a lot better than Turkey Tom.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Natural Born Gambler<\/h2>\n\n\n
\n
\"poker<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Amarillo Slim was a true gambling man. It didn\u2019t matter if the wager was on a game of poker or a presidential election, he always loved to lay the money down. Slim was said to have played cards with Presidents Johnson and Nixon, and claims to have won $400,000 in a domino game against Willie Nelson. Poor Willie probably had to go on the road again after that loss. Amarillo Slim would bet on anything and everything, and he was even more thrilled when he left the other player penniless. He wrote in his memoir, Amarillo Slim in a World Full of Fat People<\/a>, \u201cIf I\u2019m gonna win, I sure as hell want to break somebody doing it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amarillo Slim was always looking for an angle. Long\nbefore he became Amarillo Slim, young Thomas joined the Navy to get out of high\nschool early. He states that the real reason he joined the Navy was all that\nidle float time, which gave him plenty of free time in which to fleece fellow\nsailors out of their earnings. And fleece them he did. He returned to the\nStates with hundreds of thousands of dollars. Being a young man, he spent all\nhis money on cars, booze, and women\u2014and squandered the rest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Soon after that, he returned to the military life,\nand joined the Army. This time, he went as an entertainer for the troops,\ntreating them to exhibitions of pool games and billiard tricks. The real game,\nhe explained, was in the black market. He happily sold American tobacco,\ncoffee, and chocolate all over war-torn Europe\u2014and once again, he made a\nkilling, without even firing a shot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pool Hustler: Slim Meets Fats<\/h2>\n\n\n
\n
\"Amarillo<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

After the war, Slim became a full time hustler. Before\nhe perfected his poker chops, Amarillo Slim was a real life pool hustler, who\nplied his trade proudly around the pool halls of 1950s America. And the word\n\u2018hustle\u2019 does not offend him at all. Like the world depicted in the 1961 movie\nThe Hustler, winning big playing pool depends on more than just the rules of\nthe game. To \u2018hustle\u2019 your opponent, a player needed to pretend to be a weak\nplayer, lose money regularly, then suddenly turn the tables to empty the\nopponent\u2019s pockets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amarillo Slim got his name after a chance meeting\nwith famous pool hustler Minnesota Fats. He learned the importance of being\nbold, chatty, and quick with a good story. This, combined with a good nickname,\nmade up the arsenal of the pool shark. Amarillo Slim was born, and he proudly\nsported his cowboy boots, signature Stetson hat, and a big grin. He played the\n\u2018slow\u2019 country bumpkin to perfection, making it easier to hustle his opponents.\n\u201cEverybody thought I was lighter than a June frost,\u201d he laughed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Slim beats Fats<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

When Slim met Fats in the pool hall for the first\ntime, he lost big to the bigger man. Minnesota had been waiting for the brash\nyoung Texan to arrive, so he could bilk him out of his fortunes. Slim was Fats\u2019\nmark, and Slim started losing money to the master. But just when all hope\nseemed to be lost, Slim bet Fats that he could sink 4 balls in a row using a\nbroom. It seemed impossible that anyone could pull off a feat as crazy as that,\nso Fats took the bet, for a large sum of money. Unknown to Fats, Slim had been\npracticing pool with a broom for months, and he quickly hustled the Hustler.\nFats was defeated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I Have a Proposition for You<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

After his fame caught on and word got around, Slim\ncouldn\u2019t hustle as effectively, so he gave up pool. After a brief stint as a\nbookmaker, he started betting on just about anything he could think of.\nAmarillo Slim loved proposition bets. And the more outrageous the bet, the\nbetter. He would bet famous tennis players that he could beat them at table\ntennis\u2014with his choice of racket. He would show up sporting skillets, and would\nquickly trounce his opponent. It also helped that Slim had been practicing\nplaying with skillets for a month beforehand. Amarillo Slim only made bets he\nknew he could win. He discovered the game of poker, with all of that game\u2019s\nbluff and bravado, and he soon found his calling in cards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Poker and the Texas Road Gamblers<\/h2>\n\n\n
\n
\"Texas<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Slim tried his hand at family life, but getting a\n\u2018real job\u2019 just wasn\u2019t in the cards. While back in Texas, he discovered the\ngame of poker. At that time, poker was not as popular as it is today, and you\ncertainly couldn\u2019t play online. In the 50s, even Vegas wasn\u2019t yet developed\ninto the thriving gambling mecca it is today. The only places a gambler could\nhope to make a buck were in the places you could find an illegal card game: in\nthe back rooms of backwoods bars. And when you start beating the locals on a\nregular basis, they start beating you back\u2014with their fists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amarillo Slim meets Doyle Brunson and Sailor Roberts<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

It was during these dangerous times that Amarillo\nSlim met up with Doyle \u201cTexas Dolly\u201d Brunson and Bryan \u201cSailor\u201d\nRoberts. Each of them tired of being beaten, robbed, and threatened, they\npartnered up to form the original Texas Road Gamblers. And a legacy was born.\nTogether the three poker aces went from town to town throughout the South and\nthe Southwest, cleaning out the local card rooms and the pockets of the locals.\nBut it wasn\u2019t all smooth sailing for \u201cSailor\u201d and the boys. While there was\nstrength in numbers, nothing prepares a gambler for a shotgun pressed against\nhis belly\u2014as Amarillo Slim once experienced. He said he was also arrested,\nchased by mobs, and robbed by bandits waiting outside of the poker rooms for\nthe winners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once Slim was grabbed by attackers while leaving a card game\nwith his winnings. His captors took him to a hotel room, tied him with wires,\nand held him under water in the bathtub. They demanded to know where his\npartners were. He refused to tell them, so they left him in the tub, tied and bleeding,\nuntil a maid finally found him. When the police asked for his testimony, Slim\nrefused to snitch on his attackers. Instead, he preferred to find his friends,\npool their strength, and get revenge on his attackers. Whether that revenge\ntook the form of brute strength or gambling guile is uncertain. But one thing\nis clear: Amarillo Slim doesn\u2019t like losing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Winning Big in Las Vegas<\/h2>\n\n\n
\n
\"Texas<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

After tiring of life spent dodging beatings and bullets, the\nTexas Road Gamblers heeded the clarion call of Las Vegas. The dusty days of a\nfew casinos owned by mobsters were over. Now Las Vegas was establishing itself\nas the premier gambling destination in America. And with that, three Texans\nstrolled into town, and took Sin City by storm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once the Texas Road Gamblers discovered the World\nSeries of Poker in Las Vegas, the sky was the limit. They decided to split up\nthe team, and play \u2018every man for himself.\u2019 Individually, their winnings were\nlegendary. After he won the WSOP Main Event, he appeared on The Tonight Show,\nwhere he shared his love of a good gambling story with Johnny Carson.\nEventually, Slim went on to win four WSOP gold bracelets, the coveted\nchampionship prize (along with his winnings).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amarillo Slim\u2019s last WSOP win was in 1990. After that, he lost his enthusiasm for the big game, even though he never stopped gambling<\/a>. \u201cThese new guys play like robots\u201d he lamented. For Slim, all of the joy in the game was in the tall tales, the witticisms, and the jovial swagger. Slim loved the psychology behind playing poker, sizing up his opponents, and then cutting them down to size. After a rich life of hustling, gambling, and playing poker with the best, Amarillo Slim died at age 83 on April 29, 2012.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Texas poker legend should be larger than life, as with all things Texan. He should also have a hustler\u2019s keen wit, an unflappable urge to win, a good sense of humor, and a Southerner\u2019s way with words. And when the chips are down, he relieves you of yours with a smile, leaving his outrageously […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":5029,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"yoast_head":"\nPoker Legend Amarillo Slim - Planet 7 Casino<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Texas poker legend Amarillo Slim came to the tables armed with a wily grin, a way with words, and an uncanny ability to empty your pockets.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.planet7casino.com\/other\/poker-legend-amarillo-slim\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Poker Legend Amarillo Slim\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Texas poker legend Amarillo Slim came to the tables armed with a wily grin, a way with words, and an uncanny ability to empty your pockets.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.planet7casino.com\/other\/poker-legend-amarillo-slim\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Planet 7 Casino\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-04-01T13:02:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-03-08T10:43:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.planet7casino.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Amarillo-Slim.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"801\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"450\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Frank West\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@planet7_casino\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@planet7_casino\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Frank West\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"8 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.planet7casino.com\/other\/poker-legend-amarillo-slim\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.planet7casino.com\/other\/poker-legend-amarillo-slim\/\",\"name\":\"Poker Legend Amarillo Slim - Planet 7 Casino\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.planet7casino.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2019-04-01T13:02:01+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-03-08T10:43:28+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.planet7casino.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0102ddf10cd1fa9ca2dd9b8f15f8423c\"},\"description\":\"Texas poker legend Amarillo Slim came to the tables armed with a wily grin, a way with words, and an uncanny ability to empty your pockets.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.planet7casino.com\/other\/poker-legend-amarillo-slim\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.planet7casino.com\/other\/poker-legend-amarillo-slim\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.planet7casino.com\/other\/poker-legend-amarillo-slim\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.planet7casino.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Poker Legend Amarillo Slim\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.planet7casino.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.planet7casino.com\/\",\"name\":\"Planet 7 Casino\",\"description\":\"Planet 7 Casino\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.planet7casino.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.planet7casino.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0102ddf10cd1fa9ca2dd9b8f15f8423c\",\"name\":\"Frank West\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.planet7casino.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b3253f1d9da8d7b95874588db99eb8c9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b3253f1d9da8d7b95874588db99eb8c9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Frank West\"},\"description\":\"Frank West is a bit of an itinerant gambler. 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