TIP OF THE HAT

TO AMARILLO SLIM who died last week at age 83. Slim won the main event at the World Series of Poker in 1972. He parlayed his win into guest appearances on Johnny Carson and other TV shows where he publicized poker and, not incidentally, himself. He was a natural showman with an outsized personality. He played poker to the end.

Slim started as a pool hustler and moved on to poker when that seemed to offer better returns. While I did not know him well, I did have the occasion to play with him a number of times. Most people found him to be a friendly and engaging character. If he was in the game, it wasn't going to be dull. 

Slim was thought to be the source of an old poker adage about what constitutes a good poker game:  "If you look around the table and you don't see a sucker, then you're it." 

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