Amarillo Slim Preston

Amarillo Slim Preston is considered to be the "grandfather" of texas holdem poker, born December 31st 1928, he is one of the oldest and original American gamblers and is considered to be the most well known professional gambler and also very well known for his proposition betting strategy. Amarillo Slim Preston is also very known for winning the 3rd ever World Series Of Poker, heldback in 1972. by winning this event he quickly became known as one of the biggest and most well known "characters" in the professional poker scene. One of the main icons he portrayed was the typical cowboy poker player look, similar to what Doyle Brunson portrays today.

Preston co-authored a book after taking down $90,000 at the World Series final table. Teh book was called "Maverick Poker" and he promoted the book by appearing on a number of well known talk shows. Some consider him to be behind the growth of tournament poker, as his appearances on the Johnny Carson show were extremely well publicised. According to public records, Preston also attended the the "Tonight Show" more then 11 times, and "60 Minutes" did 3 news stories about him and his antics. Similar to what Chris moneymaker did a few years by winning the WSOP, some feel that Preston was the original player that put the World Series of poker on the map way back.

Preston is still believed to be playing competitive poker at the top levels, and a lot of poker players consider him to be a living legend. Well known in his home state of Amirillo, Texas, he is still in good condition and is more then 80 years old today. He is often seen appearing in his leather cowboy boots that have the word "SLIM" written down both sides. One of the things he is most well for by other players is his constant chirping and commenting about the game. A lot of players are put off by this and feel intimidated. Even today, he is still dangerous to play against, mixing un-friendly humor with a ruthless style that has made him one of the all-time great poker players.