Vegas Poker Blog

Even though Amarillo Slim Preston has four SWOP bracelets, his name seems as synonimous with the tournament and the game as Johnny Moss or any other player. And, rather rightfully so because hes one of the more interesting characters weve had around.

Slim was a real rounder in every sense of the word. He hustled, he made wild propositions, and he networked. He was one of the first to really Ëœuse television not only promote himself but in a funny way to promote poker. He lived bigger than life wearing $1 gold pieces for buttons, sporting a big cowboy hat and staying skinny as a rail his whole life.

Being a close friend of Benny Binions helped Slim to get into a position to play in the WSOP and after his first win in 1972 ($80,000) he took to the airways. He appeared on talk shows and even in a mainstream movie, and became one of the most colorful people on the circuit from then on. He won his last bracelet in 1990 ¦so he wasnt all hype. What a combination!

Slim also made it a point to play poker with rather unexpected people ¦like Richard Nixon, Lyndon Johnson, Larry Flynt and more. He was once kidnapped by Pablo Escabar, the Columbian drug king, who mistook him for a drug dealer. He was just in Columbia to open a casino. He opened a restaurant in South Africa and held his own tournaments in Australia. Likely, theres not been a world-class poker player who got around quite as much as Slim.

Slim doesnt play much poker anymore preferring to spend his time building golf courses and watching his champion cutting horses at work. He got into a bit of trouble with the law and lays a little lower anymore. But when he played there werent many as canny as Amarillo Slim, and there are few who loved the game more than him. He says he loved the camaraderie and the challenge, and most who ever played him or met him genuinely liked the guy.

Theres one Amarillo Slim quote I try never to forget. Hes left us plenty of them, but “Look around the table. If you don’t see a sucker, get up, because you’re the sucker.” is my personal favorite. What a guy!