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Written by Beatrix | Thursday, April 9th, 2009
Lately, poker veteran and legend Amarillo Slim has been a lot on the news, and it has not been good news.
Having been robbed and beaten up, in March as he was trying to collect a poker debt in his hometown of Amarillo, Texas, left Slim with some broken bones and embarrassment. But that was nothing compared to the utter humiliation and damage incurred during the latest accusation by his own daughter in law, who says he sexually assaulting his granddaughter 12-year old Hannah back in 2003.
Following the assault accusation, Slim pleaded to the charge, hoping this would protect his family’s privacy and quit down the media. Thereafter, he agreed to counseling, paid a hefty fine and had to undergo a probational period sentence. Nevertheless, the reputation damage was done and he subsequently lost the trust of many friends as a result of all the questions raised during the trial.
Thomas Preston, a.k.a Amarillo Slim didn’t show interest in talking about the matter until this week, that is. During an online interview, held earlier on this week, he opened up and confessed in the hopes of perhaps somewhat cleaning up his soiled poker legend status name. In an attempt of reputation recovery, Slim sat down and answered questions regarding the truth of what really happened on the famous day.
This is his version: On a rainy day, while he was at his ranch, Slim and his four grandchildren, including Hannah, seeking refuge in his truck. According to Slim, he tried to reach for the gear shift, and inadvertedly stroked Hannah’s leg and this was enough to create the whole allegations that were born.
This incident and Slim says absolutely never touched her in an inappropriate manner. Strangely enough, he did agree to uttering the words - “I’ll bet that feels good”, which created so many raised eyebrows and doubts up against court.
The abuse allegations started through Child Protective Services when they alerted Slim for questioning. As the investigation progressed, Slim passed a lie detector test and his daughter in law who raised the accusations and his wife have both signed affidavits stating they believe him and that he did nothing wrong. Slim states that he decided to finally speak out because he felt it was time for the truth and showed willingness to give his version of the fact events.
After this having temporarily destroying the Preston family, the 80 year old Slim shows hope that the evidence will clear his name. Nevertheless, he looks dis-heartened and resigned to the fact that not everyone will believe the truth. Fans and players alike have not showed faith in his words so far, it will be interesting to see into the future and discover if the world of poker will be forgiving it’s icon.
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Written by Beatrix · Filed Under news · |
