Actor Nicholas Cage will play poker legend Amarillo Slim’s character in an upcoming movie of the same name. Thomas Preston Jr, who picked up his nickname in his early poker years, was one of the first poker pros to implement self marketing, a skill that seems to go hand in hand with the profession these days.
The upcoming movie is rumored to have Cage play the poker legend, something that Slim has said he is agreeable to, after a meeting between the two.
Cage is touted to have landed the role as he possesses the sexy, mysterious voice that will make audiences want to know what he's betting on. Cage was born Nicholas Kim Coppola, nephew of Francis Ford Coppola, director of the Godfather series, and Talia Shire wife of Rocky Balboa.
He's since made his own place in the movie industry with compelling roles in movies such as Face Off, where Cage costarred with John Travolta, Con Air and Gone in 60 seconds in which Cage played opposite of the ever alluring with Angelina Jolie.
Cage is slated for a new role, this one in the gambling world, where Cage would be betting on, and playing out a bit of poker history in his character Amarillo Slim (aka Thomas Austin Preston Jr.), a professional gambler that was born in Arkansas, and is known as an icon in the poker world.
The real life Amarillo Slim, four time World Series of Poker (WSOP) winner, was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 1992.
Amarillo Slim in a World Full of Fat People, Preston's autobiography was released in 2003. In the book Preston shares stories of his play with guys like Larry Flint (Penthouse Magazine), Former Presidents Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon.
Slim is also commonly agreed to be the greatest proposition gambler to have ever lived. His most famous saying, quoted by Matt Damon's Mike McDermott in Rounders is good advice for sharks the entire world over: "You can shear a sheep many times, but skin him only once.’’
For a personal encounter of the man at a WSOP event, read Brittani Simberg’s blog entry on a night out with Amarillo Slim here. Better known to the HollywoodPoker community as Brittfish14 - she won a seat at the 2006 World Series of Poker's Ladies Event alongside the HollywoodPoker Diamonds.
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