Amarillo Slim was poker's greatest ambassador in the crucial early days of the World Series of Poker. Beginning his card career as a rounder in the company of Doyle Brunson in Texas, Mr. Preston helped make Texas holdem the game of choice for poker players. Amarillo Slim's best friend was Benny Binion, whose Las Vegas casino hosted the World Series for its first thirty years. These two men had more to do with the creation of the World Series of Poker as any two other men. When Amarillo Slim won the WSOP Main Event in 1972, the gregarious player gained notoriety for his appearances on the Tonight Show, where he became the face of the poker world.

EARLY LIFE

"Amarillo Slim" Preston was born Thomas Austin Preston, Jr. in the town of Johnson, Arkanas in 1928. Amarillo Slim was early on a pool hustler, a pasttime he took into his early stint in the army. Mr. Preston claims he made his first million dollars at age 19, while he was still in the army. When he left the military, Preston took his talents to Texas.

By the 1950's, money from hustling at billiards began to dry up. So Preston switched his focus to poker. He and Doyle Brunson would travel in a car around Texas, hustling local players at backroom card tables. Many are the stories where the two rounders would have to flee a game in their car, or would win a stake and lose it again at the end of a gun.

In these years, Amarillo Slim became a successful sports bookie. This career ended when Texas made sports books illegal, and Slim wisely chose to give up his lucrative oddsmaking business. This did not end Slim's occasional troubles with the IRS, who wanted to make an example of a high profile gambler who might not have reported all of his winnings.

By the 1960's, Preston and Brunson and a few other Texas poker players had moved to Las Vegas. Benny Binion, who opened Binion's Horshoe Casino in Las Vegas, was a part of the Texas crowd. Binion decided in 1970 to host an event called the World Series of Poker, inviting the world's greatest poker players to the event. Because the Texas rounders preferred Holdem to any other poker game, Texas No-Limit Hold 'Em began its rise as the most popular card game in the professional poker world. Mr. Preston, now more famously known as Amarillo Slim Preston, won the WSOP Main Event in 1972. This was the first of 4 World Series of Poker bracelets for Mr. Preston.

HARD WAY TO MAKE AN EASY LIVING

Amarillo Slim Preston's first maxim of gambling is to "play the player more than you play the cards." Amarillo Slim has played a more varied group of opponents than anyone else in the 20th century. Not only did he take other poker players, but Amarillo Slim won bets with celebrities from other fields.

Slim defeated Larry Flynt in poker to the tune of $2,000,000. He also defeated Minnesota Fats at pocket billiards, playing with a broomstick. He defeated Evel Knievel at golf while using a carpenter's handle. He took $300,000 from Willie Nelson in a game of dominoes. And he bested Bobby Riggs at ping-pong, supposedly while using an iron skillet.

But the stories don't stop there. At various times, Amarillo Slim played poker with Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon. He is famous for his run-ins with his unsavory nemesis, Jimmy the Greek. But perhaps the most unstable acquaintance Amarillo Slim made was with Pablo Escobar.

When the Casino de Caribe opened in Cartagena in 1990, Amarillo Slim was paid to help with the grand opening. Upon arrival, Slim realized that Escobar wanted him to preside over a high stakes game with the Columbian drug lords. After showing Slim his zoo and his opulent estates, Pablo placed Slim under his personal protection. Amarillo Slim spent the next several days winning huge stacks of money from the drug cartel leaders. Slim said the drug lords were the richest men with no brains he'd ever met.

All of these stories can be found in Mr. Preston's 2003 autobiography, Amarillo Slim in a World Full of Fat People. This book is likely to be made into a movie at some point. Rumors have it that Nicholas Cage may play the role of Amarillo Slim.

RECENT TROUBLES

As he's gotten older, Amarillo Slim's troubles have mounted. He had a 2002 fall in Idaho that nearly killed him. Even worse, Slim was accused of molesting a child in 2003. It turns out the child was his 12-year old granddaughter. Amarillo Slim pled guilty to a lesser charge and paid a $4,000 fine. Despite his many achievements in poker, it is likely this incident will stain Mr. Slim's poker legacy.

Amarillo Slim is retired from tournament poker. He lives in Amarillo, Texas with his wife. He and his wife have three children.

This page was last updated on January 12, 2006.