"Amarillo Slim in a World Full of Fat People"

Graham Sharpe, media relations director of British bookmaking firm William Hill, named his top gambling books for the Times (London).

Five of the titles are almost certainly better known to British audiences than to readers elsewhere. The one exception?

Amarillo Slim in a World Full of Fat People by Amarillo Slim Preston with Greg Dinkin

Memoirs of self-styled “greatest gambler who ever lived”.

From the publisher:

Amarillo Slim Preston has won $300,000 from Willie Neslon playing dominoes and $2 million from Larry Flynt playing poker. He has shuffled, dealt, and bluffed with some of twentieth-century's most famous figures. He beat Minnesota Fats at pool with a broom, Bobby Riggs at table tennis with a skillet, and Evel Knievel at golf with a carpenter's hammer. Amarillo Slim has gambled with 'em all, and left most of them wishing they hadn't.

The memoirs of a living American icon, Amarillo Slim in a World Full of Fat People is the story of life as a Texas road gambler and the discovery of the Wild West. It's also the story of how Slim won the World Series of Poker at Binion's Horseshoe, became a worldwide celebrity, and brought poker from smoky backrooms to mainstream America. Just let him tell it:

"If there's anything I'll argue about, I'll either bet on it or shut up. And since it's not very becoming for a cowboy to be arguing, I've made a few wagers in my day. But in my humble opinion, I'm no ordinary hustler. You see, neighbor, I never go looking for a sucker. I look for a champion and make a sucker out of him ..."

"I'm fixing to tell you a few things that I've been keeping to myself for a lot of years. If you're not careful, you just might learn how to get rich without ever having a job."

To read an excerpt from Amarillo Slim in a World Full of Fat People, click here.

--Marshal Zeringue