subject: What A Gambler Can Teach You About Health [print this page] I just finished reading a book about "Amarillo Slim" Preston, probably the greatest gambler of all time. Slim was famous long before poker ever surfaced on the television and has taken the money of folks all over the world, who were silly enough to think that
they could actually hustle him.
Slim wasn't a television creation. He started hustling as a young kid, in Amarillo, Texas and in the early 1950's, he came home from a stint in the Army with well over $300,000. That is serious money, even today, but in the early 1950's that was a real fortune. Upon his return to the States, it lasted him a little over a year.
But don't feel sorry for him, because he kept right on hustling and when you read the book, you'll be amazed at all the clever ways he was able to relieve guys with huge egos of their money, some of it well earned and some not.
The great thing about the book is his attitude, which is always unflappable. He proves, over and over, that a guy with a bit of smarts and an unflappable attitude, can get just about anything he
wants out of life, and then some. Slim is retired now, but he is still considered one of the best gamblers who ever lived. Not only that, but he has enough of other men's money to live comfortably, until he decides to gamble in the Big Room upstairs. And after
reading the book, even the Big Guy better be on his toes, when Slim starts dealing.
Knowing when to hold them and when to fold them was Slim's stock-in-trade. It's hard to believe, but Slim was and is the consumate family man, married for over 50 years, with three children and seven grand children. He never took any chances with them, often saying
that for him, gambling was a lot more predictable than you might imagine. In other words, given a certain set of circumstances, it was easy for him to predict the outcome of a situation, with
certainty. The only hard part was to get the other fellow to follow his script, which they very nearly always did, to the letter, insuring that he would get a nice pile of their money.
As a doctor, given a certain set of circumstances, I can make some pretty good predictions of what the outcome of your situation will be. If you eat a lot of junk, get more couch time than exercise, have a high stress level and drink to excess, I can pretty much predict where you're going to end up. And the doctor's office is just the first step on the ladder.
On the other hand, if you start listening to me, eating right, getting some exercise, taking the right supplements, starting with pharmaceutical grade fish oil, you may only need to see a doctor once in a blue moon.
This weekend I spoke with an 80 year old who refuses to use a wheelchair on a regular basis. His relatives wanted me to convince him to use it all the time. He told me that if he starts using the
chair all the time it won't be long before he's not walking at all, which he doesn't want. (And I don't blame him.) After talking with both sides, I recommended that he use the wheelchair if there is a danger of falling, but that he should continue to walk as long as he
can, even if he needs assistance. Grandpa is right and so is the family right to be concerned, but it's really a use it, or lose it situation.
