Famous Poker Legends

Amarillo Slim is most probably the best-known poker player in the world. His natural charm and down-home style have made him a household name. His full name is Thomas Austin Preston and he was born in Arkansas. He took his outstanding name many years later after he bought with his gambling winnings a ranch in West Texas. When he was young, Preston made most of his money as a pool hustler not at the poker table. Preston won over $100,000 in cash while traveling around the West Coast during a stint in the navy. Slim’s love for gambling introduced him to other legendary players of that time including Johnny Moss, Brian “Sailor” Roberts, and Doyle Brunson. In 1972 Slim won the World Series of Poker and continued to be in the poker world a dominant force for a very long time. Slim’s true genius has been marketing himself with homespun quips and colorful yarns and that have amused audiences of millions and attracted the new generations to the game of poker. Slim has numerous television and radio appearances. He also organized the second-largest tournament - the Super Bowl of Poker. At present, Slim lives in his namesake Amarillo and you can see him in many big poker tournaments.

Binion’s first love was poker. During the 30’s Benny Binion started by running illegal gambling rackets and bootlegging in Dallas. He is one of the Las Vegas’s last true founders. He arrived in Las Vegas in 1946 and bought the dilapidated Eldorado Casino. Then he renamed the casino to Binion’s Horseshoe and soon after that it became the gambling activity epicenter. The Horseshoe was built mostly for real serious gamblers and not for common tourists.

For many decades, Binion would accept from anyone who walked into his casino a wager of any size. He was willing to make the ultimate gamble. There are many true stories in Binion’s life about high rollers with a lot of money at the craps table, riding on a single roll. In 1970 Binion decided to try and duplicate the success of the match between Johnny Moss and Nick Dandalos 20 years ago. He invited to the Horseshoe the top poker players for what he thought to be the world championship. This is how the World Series of Poker was born. Nowadays, more than 30 years later, the yearly event at Binion’s Horseshoe remains as the world greatest poker event and every serious poker player dreams to be a part of it. Benny Binion passed away in 1989. His family continues to manage the casino.

Jack Straus was called “Treetop” because he was two meters tall and had a big bushy beard. He was a really lovable man and had a reputation for betting every single dollar in his pocket every day. Straus carried around thousands of dollars which were placed chaotically in a brown paper bag. There were many cases in which he managed to lose the bag and he was left flat broke. He wasn’t upset when this happened, he just make comments like “Such is life.” Straus was one of the best No-Limit Texas Hold’em players of his time. In 1982 he won poker’s world championship. For years, the Frontier Casino in Las Vegas organized a major tournament in his name, which attracted poker’s best players. In 1988 he died from a heart attack while participating in a high-stakes poker game in Los Angelis. Straus died doing what he loved best - playing poker.