Kenny Rogers - The gambler

On a ^Dwarm summer's evenin' on a ^Gtrain bound fo^Dr nowhere, I met up with the gambler; we were both too tired to ^Asleep. So ^Dwe took turns a starin' at the ^Gdarkness out the ^Dwindow 'til ^Gboredom over^Dtook us, ^Aand he began to ^Dspeak.

He said, "^DSon, I've made a life out of ^Greadin' people's ^Dfaces, and knowin' what their cards were by the way they held their ^Aeyes. And if ^Dyou don't mind my sayin', I can ^Gsee you're out of ^Daces. For a ^Gtaste of your ^Dwhiskey I'll ^Agive you some ^Dadvice.

So I ^Dhanded him my bottle and he ^Gdrank down my last ^Dswallow. Then he bummed a cigarette and asked me for a ^Alight. And the ^Dnight got deathly quiet, and his ^Gface lost all expr^Dession. Said, "If you're ^Ggonna play the game, ^Dboy, ya gotta ^Alearn to play it ^Dright.

You got to ^Dknow when to hold 'em,^G know when to ^Dfold 'em, ^Gknow when to ^Dwalk away and know when to ^Arun. You never ^Dcount ^Ayour ^Dmoney when you're ^Gsittin' at the ^Dtable. There'll be time ^Genough for ^Dcountin' ^Awhen the dealin's ^Ddone.

^DEv'ry gambler knows that the ^Gsecret to surv^Divin' is knowin' what to throw away and knowing what to ^Akeep. 'Cause ^Dev'ry hand's a winner and ^Gev'ry hand's a ^Dloser, and the ^Gbest that you can ^Dhope for is to ^Adie in your ^Dsleep."

And ^Dwhen he'd finished speakin', he ^Gturned back towards the ^Dwindow, crushed out his cigarette and faded off to ^Asleep. And ^D*somewhere in the darkness the ^G*gambler, he broke ^D*even. But ^G*in his final ^D*words I found an ^A*ace that I could ^D*keep.

You got to ^Dknow when to hold 'em,^G know when to ^Dfold 'em, ^Gknow when to ^Dwalk away and know when to ^Arun. You never ^Dcount ^Ayour m^Doney when you're ^Gsittin' at the ^Dtable. There'll be time ^Genough for ^Dcountin' ^Awhen the dealin's ^Ddone.

You got to ^Dknow when to hold 'em,^G know when to ^Dfold 'em, ^Gknow when to ^Dwalk away and know when to ^Arun. You never ^Dcount ^Ayour m^Doney when you're ^Gsittin' at the ^Dtable. There'll be time ^Genough for ^Dcountin' ^Awhen the dealin's ^Ddone.