Thomas-Preston-Obituary

Thomas Austin "Amarillo Slim" Preston Jr.

Obituary

AMARILLO, Texas (AP) - Thomas Austin "Amarillo Slim" Preston Jr., an acclaimed professional poker player who fancied himself the "World's Greatest Gambler," has died.

Bunky Preston said Monday that his father died of colon cancer Sunday in hospice care in Amarillo, Texas. He was 83.

Preston won the 1972 World Series of Poker in Las Vegas and was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 1992. He also wrote or co-wrote several books about the game and himself.

Bunky Preston says his father got his nickname playing pool. Unlike many professional gamblers at the time, Amarillo Slim Preston sought out the media spotlight after his World Series of Poker win and is credited with helping raise the game's public profile.


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Lived in Amarillo all my life and hadn't heard of Slim until my dad told me he had played a private game of Holdem with him before. He sure is a legend. Awesome to know someone from my hometown was such a notorious gambler and even won the WSOP.

Godspeed Thomas, and thank you for sharing a part of your life with us.

Slim a gambler's nerve and a gentleman's heart.

Slim, I know God will give your family the strength to get through these hard times.Hope to see you again up there someday .

Please accept my condolences. I will never forget Slim in the late 1940's. A couple of my friends and I stopped by the basement in the old Barfield Building at Sixth and Polk in Amarillo occasionally to watch Slim play nine ball and snooker on our way home from Amarillo High School. He was an icon to us. We were thrilled at some of his sayings, such as "If I tell you a goose can pull a plow, hook him up boys", after running the table. Another one I recall was "That's good...

Please accept 'our deepest condolences. May the GOD of all Comfort give your family the needed strength to endure the days to come. ( ATL. GA.)

He always knew when to hold 'em, and when to fold 'em. God Bless "Amarillo Slim" and his family.

Deal 'Em Slim!...You Win!