Biography of Amarillo Slim

I spent sometime with Amarillo Slim at The World Series Of Poker. He's always a pleasure to see. Here's a couple of my favorite Slim stories… Slim was at a table tennis tournament and said he could beat anyone there for any amount they wanted to wager as long as he got to choose the paddles they used. Slim and his opponent would use the same thing. A sizable wager was discussed and agreed to by
Slim and a backer of the table tennis champion. It was well into five figures. The match was to take place the following day. During the next 24 hours the backer and the champ tried to figure out what Slim was going to choose as their paddles. They figured that because Slim was so much bigger and stronger than the champ he would choose a couple of big, heavy frying pans. A ruse that Slim had employed years earlier in a big money-match against Bobby Riggs.

So, they went out and bought the biggest iron frying pan they could find and practiced well into the night. The next day the moment of truth came. Slim walked in with a bag with two coke bottles in it. These were the old small glass bottles that had the ridges on the side. He offered the champ his choice of identical bottles and the game began. If you never used a coke bottle as a paddle there was a major drawback. If you didn't hit the ball just right it would either go straight up or straight down. The champ didn't have a chance. Needless to say Slim walked away with the cash.

Here's another one…Slim challenged anyone at a country club that he could drive a golf ball for a distance of over a mile. Slim was willing to back up his boast with a large wad of money. Everyone laughed at this and figured that he was trying to trick them in the way that he worded the offer. One guy said, "What are you going to do Slim, take the golf ball in your car and drive it for over a mile".

Slim laughed at this suggestion and said he would put the regulation golf ball on a regulation tee and use a P.G.A. approved golf club to drive the ball over one mile. A crowd gathered and everyone was trying to figure out what Slim was up to. No one could. Slim said I'll put my money where my mouth is, how about you? Finally after a long silence the country club members ponied up thousands of dollars to bet against Slim and his seemingly absurd claim.

Slim said, "Let's do it" and waved to everyone to follow him. He got into his pickup and a procession of cars followed Slim for a few miles off the beaten track. Slim finally pulls into a deserted lot with all of the other cars in tow. As everyone gets out of their cars they begin to see the method of Slims' madness. There before him was a huge frozen lake as far as the eye could see. Slim calmly sets the ball on the tee and with one mighty swing the ball travels well into the next county skipping on the ice.

There was total silence as Slim collected his wager. Amarillo Slim Preston is a living legend and the winner of the World Series of Poker in 1972. His wit and wisdom is larger than life. Fictitious characters like Paul Bunyon look small in comparison.