Amarillo Slim is one of the best gamblers. He was a poker player in Texas and joined Doyle Brunson and Puggy Pearson. Despite his background in poker, he made money and fame by making extremely risky bets on the race track. He can easily bet with his cunning and intelligence. In addition to the race track, it has also been used in the pool table and table tennis games.
Slim has won many cash tournaments in his life. However, he never played any tournament in front of the camera. He set a world record by winning $1,42,000 in his lifetime. He has been involved in gambling since the beginning of his career. Although he won a lot of cash in his life, the chapter of his life ended with a terrible disease.
Personal information
Amarillo Slim’s real name is Thomas Austin Preston Jr. He was born on December 31, 1928, in Johnson, Arkansas. Her parents moved to Turkey, Texas, when she was a child. After her parents divorced, her mother returned to Johnson. However, his father moved to Amarillo. Amarillo Slim thinks Turkey is a much more advanced hack than Tom or Arkansas Austin. Amarillo Slim was also divorced. However, he had three children and lived in Amarillo, Texas.
In August 2003, Slim was charged with indecency with his 12-year-old grandson in Randall County, Texas, and reduced the allegation to a humiliating attack. On February 10, 2004, Slim filed a lawsuit alleging “no contest” to protect his family. At the time, he had received a 4,000 fine and two years of probation. He was also ordered counseling.
In a 2009 interview, he said he was innocent. He only accepted the petition to save his family from court proceedings. On the morning of October 4, 2006, Slim was tried by an armed robber. As he was leaving, the robbers fired three shots at his car. However, Amarillo Slim was not injured. He was later robbed at gunpoint on January 26, 2007, while at Slim’s home. Then, on January 22, 2009, he was beaten and denied while trying to recover a gambling debt.
Slim’s autobiography was the subject of a biopic movie that is to be ongoing. Nicholas Cage is said to be playing the role of Slim in the film. However, according to a 2009 article in Poker Listing, the Hollywood movie about Slim’s life has been dropped. Amarillo Slim died of colon cancer on April 23, 2012. He passed away at 83 years old.
Amarillo Slim’s Career
Slim was born in Arkansas but grew up in Texas. He initially graduated from Amarillo High School. When he got his high school diploma and discharge, the young Slim was doing the pool for good money. He later bet on winning card games and more. In the 60s, he started touring the country and was looking for poker players to race.
Slim raised $587,567 in live tournament earnings. His first tournament score from outside the WSOP came at $4,400 at the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas at the Pot Limit Omaha Tournament. In childhood, he proved to be an early adopter of popular games.
He recorded the most significant cash win of 29,027 outside the WSOP. Slim wins significant events. In 1979, he brought Pollock’s Amarillo Slim’s Super Bowl to life. Seeing the success of WSOP, Slim realized that there was enough demand for the second series. The first installment of the tournament was held in February 1979 at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas. Buy-ins ranged from just 200 to $10,000.
WSOP gold bracelet winner
Amarillo won the gold bracelet at the Slim Bar WSOP Tournament. He was an opening prayer in the 1970 World Series. Voting for the champion in the end as there is only a series of cash game sessions in different game types. In 1972, Slim WSOP won the main event, buying $10,000 for the first time.
Eight players entered the event, and Slim won the winning prize of $80,000. Also, in 1974, he won the $1000 No-Limit Hold ’em event for 11,100. In 1985, Slim won the third bracelet at the $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha event for $85,000. In 1990, Amarillo Slim again won first place in the 5000 PLO event.
With this win, he won 142,000 in cash. This is the most significant live tournament cash of his career. He then finished second at 2000 WSOP, earning $ 2,500 in cash for $ 97,500. Amarillo Slim has cashed in a total of 12 World Series events in his gambling career. Surprisingly, four wins combined made 437,265 in cash.
Other gambling information
Amarillo Slim has played many more types of gambling besides Texas Hold ’em in his gambling life. Although he has made a name for himself in the gambling world with this game, he has also played various live cash games, online poker, betting, etc. He has also won incredible victories from these games. Below we will discuss some of the gambling he participated in.
Live Cash Games
Slim played at WSOP in 1970, which was only in cash game format. He also played lots of cash games as a “road gambler” and won cash. But he never played money in front of the camera. Towards the end of his career, TV shows like Poker After Dark and High Stakes Poker became quite popular.
Online Poker
Online poker was not available as an alternative to Slim’s career. He only went live to see the advent of online poker. However, he did not play Online Poker on any site. This is one of the most amazing facts about him.
Prop Betting
Many gamblers know Amarillo Slim as a clever and creative prop beater. He made the famous bet of his life against American tennis champion Bobby Riggs. However, he made it a condition of the tournament that he choose the paddle for both players. He defeated the Slim Wimbledon champion with his strategy.
Sponsorships
Slim published his autobiography in 2001 at the World Full of Fat People, published by Harper Entertainment. In it, he revealed his porn magazine’s $2 million wins in a poker game against King Larry Flight. He also said that he played poker against US President Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard Nixon.
Amarillo Slim passes away
Slim has gained a lot of money and fame through gambling. However, the last chapter of his life happened in colon cancer. He was diagnosed with colon cancer when he was 83 years old. Slim died on April 23, 2012. He was the only son of his parents. Divorce also happened in his life. But at that time, he had three children. She saw her parents’ divorce at a very young age which had an impact on her life. As a result, he could not concentrate on his formal education.
However, he entered the world of gambling at a young age, won cash, and gained fame in a short time. No matter how much money and fame a person earns in his life, he has to taste death one day. In the same way, Amarillo Slim also died at one point. Despite his death, Slim is still a well-known name in the gambling world. Thousands of gamblers think he has survived.
