Poker has enjoyed its share of characters, but none were as colorful as Thomas Austin Preston, Jr.

Born in 1928 in Johnson, Arkansas, Preston relocated to Amarillo, Tex., gaining the name “Amarillo Slim” as a result. He honed his poker game as a rounder, alongside Doyle Brunson and Sailor Roberts.

Unlike most of his contemporaries, when fame found Preston, he rode headlong into the spotlight.

Preston won the 1972 World Series of Poker, one of four WSOP bracelets he would earn. Afterward, Preston worked the talk-show circuit, even convincing camera-shy Benny Binion to appear on Tom Snyder’s The Tomorrow Show with him.

He enjoyed rubbing elbows with the rich and famous – and taking their money. Preston won $300,000 from Willie Nelson at dominoes and $2 million from Larry Flynt at poker. He also played poker with presidents Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon.

Amarillo Slim’s zest for life has gotten him into trouble on more than one occasion. While helping to establish the Casino de Caribe in Colombia, Preston was seized by men working for drug lord Pablo Escobar.

Once they established his identity, he went from being Escobar’s prisoner to his guest. Preston tells about it in his 2003 autobiography Amarillo Slim in a World Full of Fat People.

Unfortunately, an anti-Semitic comment made by Preston on a radio station may have prevented a movie deal from being struck.

Preston also pled guilty later that year to charges of misdemeanor assault (reduced from indecency) on a 12-year-old.

Preston is married with children and continues to live in Amarillo.

He was named to the Poker Hall of Fame in 1992.