The Gambler written by Don Schlitz made famous by Kenny Rogers in 1978

The song lyrics On a warm summer's eve Every gambler knows On a train bound for nowhere That the secret to survivin' I met up with the gambler Is knowin' what to throw away We were both too tired to sleep And knowin' what to keep So we took turns a-starin' 'Cause every hand's a winner Out the window at the darkness And every hand's a loser The boredom overtook us, And the best that you can hope for is to die And he began to speak In your sleep

He said, "Son, I've made a life And when he finished speakin' Out of readin' people's faces He turned back toward the window Knowin' what the cards were Crushed out his cigarette By the way they held their eyes And faded off to sleep So if you don't mind me sayin' And somewhere in the darkness I can see you're out of aces The gambler he broke even For a taste of your whiskey But in his final words I'll give you some advice" I found an ace that I could keep

So I handed him my bottle You've got to know when to hold 'em And he drank down my last swallow Know when to fold 'em Then he bummed a cigarette Know when to walk away And asked me for a light And know when to run And the night got deathly quiet You never count your money And his face lost all expression When you're sittin' at the table He said, "If you're gonna play the game, boy There'll be time enough for countin' You gotta learn to play it right When the dealin's done

You've got to know when to hold 'em Know when to fold 'em Know when to walk away And know when to run You never count your money When you're sittin' at the table There'll be time enough for counting When the dealin's done

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