IRVINE, and PALM SPRINGS, Calif. – Richard Lister (Hlister), who lived to compete, whether on the schoolboy playing fields of his native Maine, or in baseball’s minor leagues, or against nationally ranked tennis and golf seniors, and world class poker giants, died on May 29, 2013, in Palm Springs, Calif., after a short illness. He was 76.
In 2002, Lister, who fancied himself the likes of an old gunfighter who kept his back to the wall and went down shooting, knocked former champion Thomas Austin Preston Jr. out of that year’s World Series of Poker in Las Vegas. Preston is better remembered as poker legend Amarillo Slim.
Outside the arena, Lister retired as a tenured professor of psychology from Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, Calif., and continued in private practice in Costa Mesa for over 30 years, specializing in sport psychology and working with a number of professional athletes and teams.
After graduating in 1959 from the University of Maine, where he was captain of the baseball team, Lister played a year in the San Francisco Giants’ farm system before breaking a leg and being released. Then in 1963 he adopted a pseudonym, took four years off his age and played a season in the Milwaukee Braves’ system. After baseball, he satisfied his competitive nature with golf, tennis and, of course, poker. He was a nationally ranked seniors tennis player and a ranked amateur golfer as well as of world class at the poker table.
In 2005, Preston published a memoir, “Amarillo Slim in a World Full of Fat People.” Hlister bought a copy and got in line at a book signing. When he got to the head of the line, he looked at Preston and said, “Remember me?”
Preston looked up, and said, “Remember you? I’ll never forget you.”
The book became one of Lister’s proudest possessions. It was signed, “To Rich Lister who eliminated me from the 2002 World Series! Good Luck! Amarillo Slim”
Richard Steven Hlister, who dropped the H from his name for his professional practice and teaching, was born on Oct. 31, 1936, in Lewiston, to Stevan George Hlister and Celina Marie Powers Hlister. He was predeceased, on May 4, 2013, by his life partner, Sandra Wong; his parents; and brother, Robert Hlister. He is survived by a sister-in-law, Michelle Hlister; nephew, Robert Hlister; niece, Karen Hlister; and a half sister, Stephanie Croteau, all of whom reside in Maine.
Lister attended Lisbon High School, earned a bachelor degree from the University of Maine, a masters from Whittier College and a PhD in clinical psychology from United States International University in San Diego.
Richard Lister (Hlister)
