It may not seem that interesting but when looking through this weeks Sports Illustrated at the gym they had a few pages dedicated to those lost in 2012. Among them was Amarillo Slim whom they dedicated a whole page to. Guys like Junior Seau got mere sidebars.

What makes this interesting is that Slim had not been in the poker limelight at all for years leading up to his passing. So that basically proves one thing - personality is everything in poker in terms of crossover or mainstream appeal, nothing else matters. As much as people attack Hellmuth, Negreanu, Matusow, and others for over the top personalities or outlandish behavior - they have a personality. There's a reason why they still get the TV time. A player with a huge resume yet with no personality is of no use to the mainstream or to having crossover appeal.

Sure some of them can have their problems as Slim did but he also had crossover and mainstream appeal unlike anyone else. Like when Esfandiari was on Howard Stern after the One Drop win, he's got personality and gave a great interview. Had anyone other than him or Hellmuth one there wouldn't have been much of an interview.

All these players with amazing stats are great players obviously. In a game of stoicness and trying to not give everything away, having a personality that does the exact opposite is the only way for the game to be noticed. Hate them all you want but that's what the people notice, remember, and want more of. Say all you want about Slim was accused of and obviously it was a terrible thing but people loved him and his personality.

Honestly had forgotten he passed on this year.

RIP.

very nice guy.. autographed his pick in a magazine for me, a few months before he died. RIP.

RIP Amarillo Slim

Amarillo Slim not only changed the image of a poker player, but also changed how poker players thought of themselves. Prior to 1972, poker players wanted to stay under the radar of the police and the general public. If you believe the stories around the 1972 WSOP ME, Doyle Brunson didn't want to face the publicity and potential tax audit and withdrew from the final table. Pearson gave up as well. Slim then turned around and made poker players look like fun people to be around, rather than semi-criminals.

Slim was the first player that broke through the consciousness of the general public. He was the face Benny Binion took to move poker from the back room to the main room of the gambling world. There was a lot of risk. The IRS at that time had not accepted that losses could be counted against wins (why Berry Johnston is in the HOF). Lot's of people with less than savory characters were looking to skim money. The public could have reacted negatively and sent poker back to the riverboat era.

While Junior Seau was a good LB, there is no question that Slim deserved a page. Seau isn't even the best LB in living memory (Lawrence Taylor anyone?), let alone a trail blazer in football.

From the Economist: http://www.economist.com/node/21554486

As a result of all his showmanship poker became respectable in America, more or less. It was taken out of the dens and into glittering rooms with thick carpets. From a relic of the old outlaw West, like cowboys themselves, it became corporate and modern: the World Series of 2006 had more than 8,000 players. Slim played with Richard Nixon, Lyndon Johnson, Mickey Rooney and Larry Flynt, whom he ate up like a ginger cake for $1.7m in one sitting. He appeared 11 times on the Johnny Carson show. He could never quite believe that he, who had made a life's career out of hustling and gambling and illegal activity, had addressed the Senate and was a personal friend of George Bush senior.

cleaning today and found the cardplayer magazine issue with Slim on the cover for his passing..I was in throw everything out mode at the time, but then decided to put that in a drawer...RIP Slim

Not many people touched people as much as Slim did.

I agree OP. Good post.

If online poker never came to be or if Moneymaker didn't win the ME, every single Final tabler (and probably 80% of the field) at the main event this year would either A. Be a camp counselor at a Magic The Gathering summer camp or B. An active paying member of the Lord of the Rings fan club.

The final table was painful to watch. Such dweebs.

RIP Slim.

Armadillo Slim was good for poker but a lot of controversy remains in regards to his personal life, whether he is guilty or not that simply cannot be ignored. It was a bad move for Sports Illustrated to pay homage to him without researching his personal life.

All it takes is an accusation to tarnish a reputation, or even ruin someone's life. In this case it was the parents of his grandchild.
Part One
I once took mom to the hospital for an asthma thing.. she had a small bruise on her arm. The nurse asked me.. Has she been beaten? Who else lives in the house. Did you ever strike her... What about your brother.. and on and on..

I agree with you, but why did he enter a plea bargin? Then Armadillo Slim said it was because he didn't want his family to have to go to court, even though I read that a few family members believed it to be true, and of course a family member was a victim. It just seems a bit strange to me. Also, the link you sent me a few things stand out straight away, I find it very weird that he patted her leg then said "I bet that feels good", I don't know if other people do this but I never witnessed it. But basically what I am saying is that when there is controversy surrounding a figure it's best not to mention them, I'm sure Sports Illustrated wouldn't have received many complaints if they were to play safe. Supose he is guilty, imagine how the victim may feel that he is being praised.

come on now.. picture the situation.. the cab is full of screaming kids.. He has to jam that second gear shifter between her legs.
I might say the same thing.. no matter who was sitting there... IF I thought they had enough brains to see the comedy in the situation.
At 12, who knows.. I had to live with a girlfriend's 12 yr old for a while. She wasn't exactly dumb.

fa·ce·tious
/fəˈsēSHəs/
Adjective
Treating serious issues with deliberately inappropriate humor; flippant.
=====

I figure it this way. Her parents got really worried. Slim is one strange character. They probably felt him capable of anything. And parents can be extremely protective. Anyone who may have hurt the kid... anyone.. will get thrown under the bus when it comes to protecting one's child.
There was bad blood, but according to Slim, they eventually made up..

"sports"

lol'd, the only thing that connected that guy to sport was him betting on baseball

The only people who object to how he handled pleading no contest are people who don't understand odds.

If we are to presume all of your other posts were like this then terrible poster. Since it's New Years day and your judgement might be a little clouded I'll give you a chance to edit or retract your statement because I think even you realise how wrong the post is you just made. At least the other poster I was discussing this with actually made sense. Note to self: Ignore Spoonitnow's future posts unless he retracts or at least explains why he made this insulting statement

Also are you saying if you are being accussed of a crime you didn't do and have a choice between serving 1 year in prison or going to court and have a 65% chance of being found guilty and sentenced to 20 years, you would choose the 1 year? If so then you are very strange and I won't interact with you on here any longer.

When this thread popped up, I was vaguely familiar with Slim's problems, and did a little searching... and ran across something called Innocent prisoner's dilemma.

I don't think spoonitnow was too far off base. (the word "only" is an exaggeration, imo) People who are familiar with how the system works might see reasons to doubt the system. Of course, how a case is handled or whether it is settled is up to the individual. Some maintain their innocence to the very end regardless of the cost.

I have read about this before and I mostly agree with you. I personally have more sympathy for those who stay true to themselves until the end. I'm also sure that you understand how entering a plea bargin could also be perceived as guilt, whether it is the case or not. The reason Spoonitnow made me very angry was because he was exaggerating and I am still looking for him to retract the statement before I will even begin discussing it with him. I find the Innocent Prisoners Dilemma to be a very corrupt way of handling the law and I thought these kind of dilemmas were mostly fiction which sadly doesn't appear to be the case.

We were in the cab of a one-ton pickup. I said, we've got to put this thing in four-wheel drive or we are going to be out here all day [and get stuck]. I reached down there like this to shift and put it in four-wheel drive. My grandbaby was there and she had one leg [near the gear shift]. I reached over and patted her on the leg and said, "I'll bet that feels good."

She said "Yeah," and giggled. We were all in there together. The sexual harassment that occurred, I can't imagine it. Never in my life have I touched the - I'll use the words - the genitals, the breasts, kissed her on the mouth, squeezed her breasts, petted her inappropriately, except just clowning with her.

I've never touched her wrongly in my life.

It works both ways.. A good lawyer can often free a guilty person. When it comes to child abuse, many feel it's better to be safe than sorry.

At least I'm not the only person who thinks the way he explained things sounds so bad, the way he goes through all the things he has never done to her is a lot like a Police Officer saying "Hi" and your reply being something like "I pay all my taxes, there is no cocaine in my house, I am not drunk, I haven't done anything wrong!" in a very fast manner. At least that's the way I read it.

probably some pedophile is getting his rocks off on this thread, so I'm out of it..

RIP Slim.