"If you think about what money can do for you, you're gone. That's what made Stuey Ungar such a great no-limit player: He never, ever, ever cared."
– Chip Reese, Hall of Fame poker player
If I told you I had calf fries for dinner last night, you might think I had lost my mind – either that or I was in Texas having dinner with Amarillo Slim. If you don't know, calf fries are bull's testicles – and as you can imagine, they taste just like chicken. No one ever said that writing Slim's memoirs was going to be routine – and he has yet to disappoint.
As part of my research before heading down to Amarillo, I read Champion of Champions, Don Jenkin's biography of Johnny Moss. I always thought Moss was the consummate poker player. With World Series of Poker titles in 1970, 1971, and 1974, and the admiration of his peers, Moss' legacy as one of the greatest has merit. But after reading the book, what struck me about Moss was that he was also a gambler. He would risk his whole bankroll in a craps game. He frequently went broke and often had to be staked, in spite of his consistent victories on the felt.
Moss had more in common than I thought with Stuey Ungar, the other three-time World Series of Poker champion. Stuey's leaks are well documented, but forgetting the drugs, Stuey was also a gambler in the truest sense of the word. He'd risk every penny in his pocket for a game of chance. In fact, outside of gin and poker, Stuey was as live as anyone, and practically gave his money away on the golf course and betting horses.
But, wait a second. A gambler and a poker player are supposed to be two completely separate entities. At least that's what we tell our parents, kids, and friends – just as Matt Damon told his girlfriend in Rounders – when they try to lump us in with those who play games of chance.
What I'm starting to wonder is if there is actually a correlation between being a poker champion and being a tried-and-true gambler. There's an old axiom that in order to be a poker champion, you have to be willing to go broke. This is in sharp contrast to my view of playing poker as a business. As a businessperson, you diversify your risk and never put all of your capital at risk. But when you look at the traits of poker champions, perhaps what makes them great is precisely their willingness to go broke. Outside of poker, that supreme confidence often translates into taking the worst of it. I believe that Michael Jordan actually thinks he can "will" his way to victory playing blackjack. And as insane as that is, it's that ultracompetitiveness and confidence that made him successful in basketball.
The question is: Can you strip the bad elements of a gambler and still keep the positive ones? In other words, if you added a dose of pragmatism to Moss and Ungar – and Michael Jordan, for that matter – would they also lose their essence and the very qualities that made them so successful?
I think the answer is yes. Just as there's a fine line between genius and insanity, I think there's also a very fine line between poker legend and flat-out gambler. In other words, you must have some gamble in order to move all in on someone with your rent money while holding queen high.
On the other hand, if you want to be a consistent winner, especially in limit poker, I believe that it's discipline, pragmatism, and not having any gamble in you that will allow you to succeed in the long run. Thus, becoming "legendary" and winning the most prestigious no-limit hold'em events is completely different from making money – and more importantly – holding on to money in the long run. Let's not forget that Stuey Ungar is one of many poker "legends" who died broke.
If any one person has found the perfect balance of poker player and gambler, it would have to be Amarillo Slim. He has the raw nerve of a great no-limit hold'em player, but he also has the pragmatism of a successful businessperson. The fact that he won the Big One, has been a top-level no-limit hold'em player for more than 40 years, and, according to him, has never gone broke, says it all.
Beyond those accomplishments, Slim is best known for his gift of gab. He has too many quotes to pick out a favorite, but I want to leave you with one that had me laughing out loud. "My son, Bunky," said Slim, "is kinda square. Hell, he's squarer than an apple box. He still thinks 69 is a highway to Dallas."
Greg Dinkin is the author of The Poker MBA (www.pokermba.com) and Amarillo Slim in a World Full of Fat People, which will be published by HarperCollins in May 2003. He is also the co-founder of Venture Literary (www.ventureliterary.com), where he works with writers to find publishers for their books and producers for their screenplays.