Amarillo Slim is a look at the life of Thomas Preston, who after stints in the Navy and Army, made his home in Amarillo, Texas, and made the moniker, "Amarillo Slim," a name known across the world. It easily takes the whole 270 pages to introduce Slim and his way of life, and to accept the Texas gambler as a true character from the world of gambling.
- Engaging and competently written. Not just a tell-all about Slim's life, but a fun to read look at the life of a hustler and gambler.
- Plenty of photographs to back up Slim's claims that he is the greatest gambler who ever lived.
- Authored by a legend in the poker playing field, Amarillo Slim is a colorful character with a good writing partner.
- Slim takes himself too seriously in parts and then admits his life reads like a fantasy later. The contradiction is a bit confusing.
- Although a legend in the poker community, much of that is due to his own salesmanship.
- Slim's actual poker talent may have been exceeded by his talent for hustling some very well known people at pool and other games.
- Amarillo Slim by Amarillo Slim Preston and Greg Dinkin was released in 2003
- 270 pages, 15 photos
- Publisher: HarperCollins
Guide Review - 'Amarillo Slim' by Amarillo Slim Preston and Greg Dinkin
Amarillo Slim takes the reader on a chronological trip from the author's birth in Arkansas to his upbringing in Texas. Born Thomas Austin Preston Jr. in Johnson, Arkansas, Slim's family moved to a tiny town 130 miles southeast of Amarillo, sadly named Turkey, Texas. He described his folks as "ordinary, churchgoing, hardworking people."
The funny thing is, Slim learned early that hard work was the key to all things in life, he just liked certain things, like hustling pool, a lot better than other things, like farming. In fact, even after joining the Navy in 1946, Slim found himself playing plenty of pool.
After stints in both the Navy and the Army, Slim hustled pool, met his future wife, Helen, and finally teamed up with two other Texas poker players, Doyle "Texas Dolly" Brunson and Brian "Sailor" Roberts."
Their exploits across the Southwest booking sports and playing poker makes for fun reading, but eventually all good partnerships break down and Slim went his own way. As a hustling entrepreneur Slim exploits other "good old boys" and hustlers too, and wins the World Series of Poker Championship for good measure.
Slim and Dinkin present the friendly, likable character of Amarillo Slim as only slightly more than a smart, athletic Texan who knows poker, knows people, and takes advantage of them when he can. That's fair, because that may be all that there is to the man who calls himself "the greatest gambler who ever lived."
