For the first time in six years, Amarillo Slim\’s speaking out on charges that he inappropriately buggered his granddaughter. In Part 1 of 2 of Nolan Dalla\’s interview, Slim addresses specific allegations and tells us that charges have been dropped, and family relationships repaired. In Part 2, we learn more details behind what were apparently incriminating plea deals. We hear nothing, however, about his loss of sponsorship at WinStar. I\’m having a hard time finding any info about that — but wasn\’t he accused of inappropriate sexual advances toward a teenage employee when the casino first opened? I could be confusing that situation, of course, with the parking lot proclivities of any number of my friends.
A few things jump out at me from the pieces … 1) be sure to read Johnny Hughes\’ comment about the old days with slim; 2) his declarations of octogenarian impotence — \”Back when I could have sex, I don\’t have it anymore – I can\’t help that – I would have had it when I could. How come I waited until I was impotent to do something like this?\”; and 3)
Libel cases are, thankfully of course, difficult for plaintiffs to win. He\’d have to show:
- Blatant disregard for the truth … that should be no problem with WCP, they do that all the time! But it\’s also arguably part of their shtick, so …
- Financial damages … easy enough. Without a doubt, Amarillo Slim missed out on plenty of sponsorship opportunities because of his poker-boom reputation as an extra-dirty old man. But is Wicked Chops any more responsible for this than, say, 2+2 or any other blogs that reported the same things with similar verbiage?
- Malicious intent … and this is probably what saves Wicked Chops from legal trouble — he\’d have a near-impossible time proving The Entities had it in for him and therefore were specifically out to do him harm.
With all this said, am I the only one who thinks there might be more to AS\’s coming clean/defending himself? The WSOP is coming up, and World Championship buy-ins can be pretty darn expensive. Being able to wear a patch promoting an online poker room would certainly help the cause, and that simply wouldn\’t be/hasn\’t been possible with a sexual predator stigma hanging over him.
But now with the likes of Russ Hamilton and Ernie Scherer III out there, and dudes like ZeeJustin being welcomed back at PokerStars, the timing seems right for him to remind the world that, hey, I\’m endorsable, too! I\’m predicting a Doyle\’s Room patch … but wouldn\’t it be kinda funny if he ended up as Bodog\’s partyin\’ grandpappy?