Kenny Rogers - The gambler

On a ^Fwarm summer's evenin' on a ^Ftrain bound for ^Fnowhere, I ^Fmet up with the ^Fgambler; we were ^Fboth too tired to ^Gsleep. So ^Fwe took turns a starin' out the ^Fwindow at the ^Fdarkness 'til ^Fboredom over^Ftook us, ^Gand he began to ^Fspeak.

He said, ^F"Son, I've made a life ou^Ft of readin' peop^Fle's faces, and ^Fknowin' what their ^Fcards were by the ^Fway they held their ^Geyes. And if ^Fyou don't mind my sayin', I can ^Fsee you're out of ^Faces. For a ^Ftaste of your ^Fwhiskey I'll ^Ggive you some ^Fadvice."

So I ^Fhanded him my bottle and he ^Fdrank down my last ^Fswallow. ^FThen he bummed a ^Fcigarette and ^Fasked me for a ^Glight. And the ^Fnight got deathly quiet, and his ^Fface lost all expr^Fession. Said, "If yo^Fu're gonna play the g^Fame, boy, ya g^Gotta learn to pla^Fy it right.

You got to ^Fknow when to hold 'em,^F know when to ^Ffold 'em, ^Fknow when to ^Fwalk away ^Fand know when to ^Grun. You never ^Fcount your money when you're ^Fsittin' at the ^Ftable. There'll be time ^Fenough for ^Fcountin' ^Gwhen the dealin's ^Fdone.

^GEv'ry gambler knows that the ^Fsecret to surv^Fivin' is ^Fknowin' what to^F throw away ^Fand knowing what to ^Gkeep. 'Cause ^Fev'ry hand's a winner and ^Fev'ry hand's a ^Floser, and the ^Fbest that you can ^Fhope for is to ^Gdie in your ^Fsleep."

And ^Fwhen he'd finished speakin', he ^Fturned back towards the ^Fwindow, ^Fcrushed out his ^Fcigarette and ^Ffaded off to ^Gsleep. And ^Fsomewhere in the darkness the ^Fgambler, he broke ^Feven. But ^Fin his final ^Fwords I found an ^Gace that I could ^Fkeep.