Amarillo SlimNickname: Amarillo Slim
Name: Thomas Austin Preston
From: Johnson, Arkansas
Born: December 31, 1928
Favorite games: No Limit Hold’em, Pot Limit Omaha
In the beginning Slim made his living hustling pool as it was his first love. It has been reported that he won 5 Cadillac’s in one week in the early 50’s before his interest in poker brought him to a whole new realm of possibilities. In 1972 Amarillo Slim won the World Series of Poker. To become the second champion that the World Series of Poker had in it's first 3 years (the first two were won by Johnny Moss).
After winning he went on several talk shows including 60 Minutes, The Tonight Show, Good Morning America, and The Tomorrow Show. He also made a movie California split. He later won 3 more World Series of Poker bracelets one for No Limit Texas Hold’em and 2 for Pot Limit Omaha.
Amarillo Slim was best friends with Benny Binion. He once talked him into appearing on the Tomorrow Show. Later he would joke that they turned the tomorrow Show into an hour long commercial for the Binion’s Horseshoe Casino. As an ambassador of poker and the most famous professional to ever play the game he was once kidnapped while opening the Casino De Caribe in Columbia. He would be returned later unharmed.
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Being friends with Benny they sent each other gifts from time to time. Benny once saw a horse that he wanted to buy from Amarillo and he refused to sell. Three weeks later he sent the horse and a couple other animals to Benny’s ranch in Montana. Some time later they went to an auction where Benny bought a bunch of long horns and promptly sent them to Amirillo. It was reported that he sent him 12 pair of registered long horns. When Benny died he sent Amarillo his horse in 1989.
It was very misquoted that Slim had said that if a woman won the World Series Of Poker he would slit his throat. What he had really said and meant was reported by Dana Smith in an interview and can be found below.
Dana: There was a story that happened years ago about a remark that you made to a woman at the World Series of Poker...
Slim: This is the factual account: It used to be that we took very few breaks, we played till it was over, but that was before the media got a hold of it. In about the first two or three hours of the tournament, a lady named Vera who wasn't a very popular person got hold of this many checks. Then we took a break and went into the Sombrero Room where the Associated Press and a bunch of people were yakking with me. So here comes this big woman, Vera, whose family owned some big ol' cosmetics company, about 1,500 stores. She busts right in, but that was OK with me, it didn't matter. "Mr. Slim," she says (she called me Mr. Slim because she was trying to show me some respect in front of the media), "What do you think about a lady getting a hold of that many chips?"
"I think it's great," I answer.
"Well, it's a certainty that I'm gonna win this World Series," she blurts out.
"Vera, if you win the World Series of Poker you can take a dull knife and cut my throat!" That's exactly what I said -- and I meant it.
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