With his cowboy boots nearby (or possibly on) and his two horses by his hospice bedside, Amarillo Slim, poker legend, took his last few breaths of life before heading to the old cattle ranch in the sky. Or possibly to Vegas.
Amarillo Slim became synonymous with poker in 1972 when he won the WSOP championship after a 22 hour match. In his lifetime he went on to win 3 more WSOP bracelets.
Born December 31, 1928, he died in a Baptist hospice, St. Anthony’s, near his home in Amarillo, Texas on Sunday, the 29th of April, ’12 at the age of 83.
WSOP Media Director Nolan Dalla says he’ll be remembered as the 20th century’s most famous poker player. Part of that was because of his unassailable poker prowess, but another part of it was because of the outlandish stunts he pulled. These include beating Willie Nelson at dominoes for $300,000; Monterey Fats at pool with a broomstick for a pool cue; and Evil Kenivel at golf with hammer for his club. He rode a camel through a Moroccan casino and appeared on numerous TV talk shoes, including The Tonight Show and 60 Minutes.
Unfortunately celebrity also had its price, as Slim was the victim of robberies on 3 occassions: in 2009, 2007, and 2006. He also entered into a plea agreement on a child indeceny charge which he denied to his death, saying the agreement was simply to spare his family a lengthy, ugly trial.
Slim will long be remembered, however, as the man perhaps most responsible for giving Texas Holdem the mainstream status it now bears.