Amarillo Slim
Amarillo Slim, who was born Thomas Austin Preston Jr. on December 31, 1928 in Johnson, Arkansas, is best known for his crazy bets. Slim proclaimed himself "the greatest gambler who ever lived," who would "bet on anything, anytime, anywhere", and he has. Like when he played one-pocket pool with Minnesota Fats using a broom handle, playing golf with Evel Knievel using a carpenter's hammer, beating Larry Flynt at poker for $2,000,000, and beating Willie Nelson at dominoes for $300,000.
When it comes to poker, Amarillo Slim had played with many, including presidents Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon, and drug lords Pablo Escobar and Jimmy Chagra. Slim no longer takes poker so seriously. He claims he feels "all pokered out" when he sits at a tournament table.
Preston's autobiography, "Amarillo Slim in a World Full of Fat People," details his life and gambling escapades, and is full of trademark Slim sayings, such as: "Look around the table. If you don't see a sucker, get up, because you're the sucker."
There were some low points that had some people refer to Amarillo Slim as Amarillo Slime. In August 2003, Preston was indicted on three charges of indecency with his 12-year-old granddaughter. The charges were reduced to misdemeanor assault in a plea bargain and on February 10, 2004, he pled guilty to the reduced charges, receiving a $4,000 fine and two years deferred adjudication.
Fun Facts
- Inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 1992.
- Has five WSOP bracelets
- Portrayed by Nicolas Cage in upcoming movie "Amarillo Slim"
Famous Quotes
- "I like you son, but I'll put a rattlesnake in your pocket and ask you for a match."
- "Poker is a game of people... It's not the hand I hold, it's the people that I play with."
- "Look around the table. If you don't see a sucker, get up, because you're the sucker."
- "Nobody is always a winner, and anybody who says he is, is either a liar or doesn't play poker."
- "They anticipate losing when they sit down and I try my darndest not to disappoint one of them."
- "I never go looking for a sucker. I look for a Champion and make a sucker of of him."
- "The population in Amarillo has stayed the same over the last fifty years. Every time some woman gets pregnant, some man leaves town."
- "It never hurts for potential opponents to think you’re more than a little stupid and can hardly count all the money in your hip pocket, much less hold on to it.."