Amarillo Slim pleads guilty to child molestation

[lunchmeat]

http://kvii.com/news.htm

Legendary poker player "Amarillo Slim" pleaded guilty to three misdemeanor counts in a child molestation case today. Amarillo Slim...whose real name is Thomas Preston Jr, appeared in court this morning. He was accused of molesting a 12-year-old family member, and was charged with three separate counts of indecency with a minor. Randall county district attorney James Farren says he filed the charges last summer after Preston confessed to him of fondling a little girl. A special prosecutor took over the case and worked out a plead bargain with Preston. Preston is fined 4-thousand dollars and sentenced to a two-year deferred probation. The special prosecutor says the misdemeanor conviction was a request by the victim's family. James Farren/Randall County D.A.: “It is not between the victim and defendant; it is between the people of Texas and the defendant. With a misdemeanor plead; the defendant doesn't require him to register as a sex offender. Therefore the other children in Texas won't receive same kind of warning to lookout for the defendant.” The Randall County district attorney is disappointed about the plea bargain. He says there is more than enough evidence to prosecute Amarillo slim at a felony level. Meanwhile, the defense attorney told me he is happy that there is a closure in this case. Amarillo slim won the 19-72 world series of poker. He's been on a number of t-v shows and played poker with past Presidents.


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[ChipWrecked]

It's ironic: During the greatest popularity explosion poker has ever had, one of its greatest players is exposed as the worst kind of lowlife.

[scotnt73]

i wouldnt call him one of the greatest maybe best know. from what i hear he was a great gambler but not really that good at holdem. yes he got a bracelet but there wasnt very many people playing in that wsop. i believe it was the 2nd or 3rd one.

[Al_Capone_Junior]

this story shows precisely why i utterly despize the god damn state of texas. three counts of child sex crimes = misdemeanor, yet 0.01 grams (residue) of a controlled substance, even a totally benign one, = strung up by your goddamn balls with a felony.

texas can go to HELL. I have said it before and I'll say it again, the justice system and the police syndicate is nothing more than state sanctioned organized crime. Ol' slim probably just secretly paid his way out of it.

did I mention my utter hatred for the state of texas? rise up to defend these FKheads and I promise you a flame war.

al

[ChipWrecked]

It's a broad statement. I suppose it's like discussions about great boxers.

I knew that Amarillo Slim was a 'great' poker player years before I ever sat down at a table. I'd never heard of Doyle Brunson (no doubt a 'better' hold 'em player).

I doubt if many people would argue that Roy Jones Jr. is a (pound for pound) better boxer than Ali was. But Ali will always be know as "The Greatest".

[Zele]

Bring back Roy Bean.

[thomastem]

[ QUOTE ]


did I mention my utter hatred for the state of texas? rise up to defend these FKheads and I promise you a flame war.

al

[/ QUOTE ]

Does this sentiment include Houston? I'm a Cubs fan and want to see Houston go down. Al do you like Houston?

[Greg (FossilMan)]

Not to defend his actions with respect to the molestation, but he did accomplish more than just win the main event early on. I believe he's won 5 or 6 total bracelets, and until an event a couple of years ago, he had won the bracelet every single time he made the final table. So clearly he knows how to be a closer in tourney poker.

Of course, after I heard about his cheap shot in the heads-up tourney in Vienna a few years ago, it was clear he really was a lowlife. He's just an entertaining lowlife who knows how to play poker pretty well.

Later, Greg Raymer (FossilMan)

[CCass]

Cheap shot in Vienna? Care to clue me in on this?

[Greg (FossilMan)]

Slim and his opponent are heads-up (of course). There has been earlier action in the hand. On the flop the opponent goes all-in (I forget if Slim had already done any betting or raising on this street). Slim announces "Let's go!". The opponent, taking this as a verbal declaration of a call, turns his cards over, as it is a requirement of the tournament that the cards must be shown as soon as somebody is all-in. The opponent has flopped a set, and Slim now says that he didn't call, that his comment about "Let's go" meant "Let's get out of here, I fold." The TD was called over, and ruled that since his oral declaration was not 100% clear, that Slim could fold without putting any more chips in the pot.

I have heard from some of the numerous observers that there was really no doubt that Slim meant he was calling with that statement. And apparently, later in the tourney (as Slim later won this match and advanced), Slim called somebody else's all-in bet with the same phrase "Let's go!"

It is clear that Slim meant to call, then saw that he was drawing slim or dead, and weaseled his way out of it.

Scum is as scum does.

Later, Greg Raymer (FossilMan)

[Wayne]

Posted on rgp:

On a flop of KT5 Amarillo bets, Ron moves all-in, Slim says "Oh [censored],
here he comes, let's go", then tables his cards face up, KQ. He then
arranges his original bet into one stack, presumably so that he can
match the three stacks Ron put out. Now it gets interesting. Ron
tables his KK, dealer announces "All-in" (to signal for Jack McClelland
to come over to witness the hand) then Slim fumbles around with his
original stack for a second, then breaks it back down to two piles, then
says "<indecipherable>...Don't show YOUR hand.", Ron says "You called",
Slim says "No, I bet" (this makes no sense), Ron says "I moved all in
you <indecipherable>". Slim says "No, I threw my hand away...you
raised, I passed, just that simple" (announcer" "Well that's
incredible"), Slim: "Well I've done gone, I've thrown my hand away Ron".
Jack now steps in and says "You've gotta' say 'call'". Slim:"Well I
didn't say 'call'" (announcer: "We all knew what you meant"). Ron says
"Well I thought you were calling when you said "Let's go", Slim says
"No, no, no, I said 'Let's go' and I'm gone".

Slim doesn't have to call and they play the next hand.

If you see the tape, the mannerisms, the movements, the inflection in
Slim's voice you'll be as sure as I am, and as sure as the announcer
was. Before anyone starts giving Slim the benefit of the doubt, let me
just say that I spoke to the most reliable of sources (and cannot name)
who had later asked Slim if that was an angle, and Slim admitted it was.

[Poker blog]

Texas rules. Your own words make you sound rather unintelligent.

[ QUOTE ]
this story shows precisely why i utterly despize the god damn state of texas. three counts of child sex crimes = misdemeanor, yet 0.01 grams (residue) of a controlled substance, even a totally benign one, = strung up by your goddamn balls with a felony.

texas can go to HELL. I have said it before and I'll say it again, the justice system and the police syndicate is nothing more than state sanctioned organized crime. Ol' slim probably just secretly paid his way out of it.

did I mention my utter hatred for the state of texas? rise up to defend these FKheads and I promise you a flame war.

al

[/ QUOTE ]

[George Rice]

Fined $4,000? lol--He must have paid ten times that to somebody to get that deal.

What a surprise. We find out the truth about another "hero" of the poker world. When are some people going to stop glorifying others because they can win a poker title, throw a football, or hit a shot from three point range?

There are a lot of class acts in the poker world and there are a lot of creeps. Success at the tables doesn't demonstrate which are which.

[Clarkmeister]

[ QUOTE ]
Texas rules.

[/ QUOTE ]

Wow, witty retort.

[Al_Capone_Junior]

[ QUOTE ]
Texas rules. Your own words make you sound rather unintelligent.

[/ QUOTE ]

you don't say WHY, nor do you offer any other support for your statement. Therefore it's essentially hot air. I offered reasons why I despize texas. I certainly (unfortunately) have spent many years in texas, therefore I do in fact have experience to back up what I say. Perhaps you do, perhaps you don't, but until you say WHY you think texas is so frigging great, then it's just hot air, and my opinion remains quite firm in the face of nothing to change my mind.

al

[Al_Capone_Junior]

I am not a real big sports kinda guy, but I do like marshall arts and football. But you can like texas sports teams and it's not a flame war! I suppose I should like the longhorns since I graduated college from a branch of UT, but actually I could probably not care less. .

But if you wanna insult each other's mommas, let me know! /images/graemlins/grin.gif

al

[Al_Capone_Junior]

the bottom line... it's not what you say, it's what you do.

no conclusions should have been jumped to until the chips were either in or out.

al

[kingstalker]

One good thing about Texas is that it has a low state income tax rate.

[sucka]

Yeah, it's low because we don't have one.

I've lived in Texas since I was 6 years old - moved down from central Illinois. We started in Houston (shithole) and after a stint in the military lived in Lubbock while I attended college (Texas Tech). I now live in Austin, which is a great f'in city.

Sure, if you look long and hard enough you'll find just as many scumbags and lowlifes as you will anywhere else.

I have lived in many places and personally I don't find Texas all that bad. I can think of better places to live but Austin is one of the best cities I've ever lived in.

[Daliman]

I'm sure this statement is false. I believe he came in 3rd the year Puggy Pearson won it. More exageration of his "legend"

[Daliman]

Wrong. It IS what you say, NOT what you do, since what he DID WAS GIVE EVERY INtENTION HE WS CALLING, AND wHAT HE SAID WAS not "I Call", therefore his actions were prempted.

[Al_Capone_Junior]

it was an angle shot, underhanded for sure. but the bottom line is "let's go" does not equal "I call." his opponent did not protect his hand.

al

[MMMMMM]

So, in a 20-40 Hold'em game, when the preflop action comes back raised and re-raised to the original limper, and he says "Capuccino!!!"--is he required to cap the betting, or even call? I saw this decision at a casino and the floor ruled that "Capuccino!!!" was not binding as poker declaration.

Technically speaking, I believe Slim had an escape hatch, but it was still a very cheap angle to shoot.

Also it goes to show the importance of being sure your opponent has acted before acting yourself--although in this case, in a NL tourney, I presume the chips are not physically required to be moved in as verbal declarations are common. Thus Slim's opponent would have had to be an ultra sharp cookie, as well as suspicious of Slim, to not take his "Let's go!" as a verbal declaration of a call. This makes that particular angle shot even more effective and even cheaper and dirtier, IMO. Still it should be a lesson learned.

[Poker blog]

Yeah, you can tell I really spent time on it.