While watching the TV show "Jeopardy" (5/31/18), the answer was: "The colorfully named Amarillo Slim won four events here." The question was "What is the World Series of Poker?” My questions are: What four events did he win? What year was it? Where was it held? How many contestants were there? What did he win?
Thomas Austin Preston Jr., a.k.a Amarillo Slim, was a professional poker player, proposition bettor, tall-tale teller, and author (he wrote several poker books and an autobiography).
He won the World Series of Poker in 1972, its third year in existence. He beat 11 other players and took down $80,000; his victory over stronger players, such as Johnny Moss, Doyle Brunson, and Puggy Pearson, was considered a major upset. Slim parlayed the win into a publicity tour that put the WSOP on the map and turned him into “poker’s greatest living ambassador.”
Over the decades, Slim won three other bracelets in the WSOP.
1974: $1,000 no-limit, winning $11,100;
1985: $5,000 pot-limit Omaha, $85,000; and
1990: $5,000 pot-limit Omaha, $142,000.
Slim died of colon cancer in 2012 at age 83.
 |
Jon Anderson
Jul-10-2018
|
