 Pervy
Poker Player Gets
Standing Ovation at
WSOP
Somach says
"Amarillo Slim" is
really "Amarillo
Slime" after
incident with 12
year old
granddaughter
Only in Las Vegas!
In a town where
gambling, booze and
strippers are
available 24 hours a
day, and the mayor
doesn’t mind if
anyone sees him
playing a one-arm
bandit, it can be
hard to be
judgmental of others
and their actions.
But a new low, even
for a place as
tawdry as Sin City,
was achieved the
other day at the
2008 World Series of
Poker (WSOP) when a
crowd of poker
players and fans
gave a standing
ovation to a
disgraced child
molester!
The shocking
scenario unfolded
during Event #42 of
the WSOP at the Rio
All-Suite Hotel and
Casino in Las Vegas,
Nevada, USA.
The event, a
so-called “seniors
tournament,” was a
$1,000 buy-in,
no-limit Texas hold
‘em tourney that had
2,218 entrants and
was open only to
poker players age 50
or older.
About $2 million
worth of prize money
was split among the
top 198 finishers in
the tournament,
which was won by Dan
Lacourse, a retired
sheriff’s detective
from Toledo, Ohio,
USA, who earned
$368,832 for the
victory.
Midway through the
tournament, however,
famous–or perhaps
more correctly,
infamous–poker pro
Thomas A. “Amarillo
Slim” Preston Jr.
was knocked out of
the tourney in 91st
place, securing a
paltry payout of
$2,825.
As he arose from his
poker table seat at
the Rio’s huge poker
room, and prepared
to exit the casino,
a thunderous
standing ovation
lasting several
minutes pierced the
din of the room.
Thousands of
spectators and
fellow poker players
were on their feet,
whistling and
cheering the
79-year-old Texas
poker legend as he
departed.
Had it been another
place and time,
amidst different
circumstances, the
ovation would
certainly have been
deserved.
After all, Preston
is one of the most
recognized
professional poker
players on the
planet–and one of
the best–having won
four WSOP
championship gold
bracelets in his
storied career,
including one for
the 1972 WSOP Main
Event.
But this is 2008,
and the age of the
Internet, and the
shocking
circumstances that
turned “Amarillo
Slim” into “Amarillo
Slime” are
well-known, both in
the poker world and
beyond.
According to court
records, in August
of 2003, Preston was
indicted by a grand
jury on three
charges of indecency
with a minor.
Even more
shockingly, the
minor in question
was his own
12-year-old
granddaughter!
 Specifically, pervy
Preston was accused
of touching his
granddaughter’s
breast on three
different occasions,
which under the law
are sexual assaults
on a minor.
In a plea bargain
agreement in
February of 2004,
the indecency
charges against
Preston were reduced
to misdemeanor
assault, to which he
pleaded guilty.
In connection with
the plea, he was
fined $4,000 and
given two years of
deferred
adjudication,
meaning he had to
keep his nose clean
and his hands to
himself for 24
months, lest the
original charges be
reinstated.
Preston has managed
to stay out of
trouble since the
plea bargain, but
that doesn’t excuse
his disgraceful
behavior.
And it certainly
doesn’t excuse the
disgraceful behavior
either of the hordes
at the WSOP who
cheered the pathetic
poker-playing
pedophile.
E-mail Tom Somach at
tomsomach@yahoo.com
----
Thomas Somach,
www.pokerhelper.com
Originally published
July 4, 2008 9:19 am
EST
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