I don't know the tab, but here are the words and the chords. The verses all have the same progression.
The Gambler:
On a warm summer's evening on a train bound for nowhere
I met up with a gambler. We were both too tired to sleep.
So we took turns a starin' out the window at the darkness
till boredom overtook us and he began to speak.
He said, "Son, I've made a life out of readin' people's faces and knowin' what their cards were by the way they held their eyes. So if you don't mind my sayin' I can see you're out of aces; for a taste of your whiskey I'll give you some advice."
So I handed him my bottle, and he drank doen my last swallow. Then he bummed a cigarette and asked me for a light. And the night got deathly quiet and his face lost all expression. Said, "If you're gonna play the game, boy, you gotta learn to play it right."
CHORUS:
"You 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.
Ther'll be time enough for countin' when the dealin's done."
"Ev'ry gambler knows that the secret to survivin' Is knowin' what to throw away and knowin' what to keep. 'Cause ev'ry hand's a winner, and ev'ry hand's a loser. And the best that you can hope for is to die in your sleep."
And when he'd finished speakin' he turned back toward the window. Crushed ou his cigarette and faded off to sleep. And somewhere in the darkness the gambler he broke even. But in his final words I found an ace that I could keep.
(to chorus:)
Well, there it is. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- "...a good point there, after all, he was the Walrus. I could be the Walrus, I'd still have to bum rides off of people." Ferris Bueller
suggests moving the whole thing up a step (starting on a G) and moving up a further step at
"Every gambler knows that the secret to survivin'
Is knowin' what to throw away and knowin' what to keep
'Cause every hand's a winner, and every hand's a loser
And the best that you can hope for is to die in your sleep."
And when he finished speakin' he turned back toward the window
Crushed out his cigarette and faded off to sleep
And somewhere in the darkness, the gambler he broke even
But in his final words I found an ace that I could keep
"You 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 countin' when the dealin's done."
"The Gambler" - by Kenny Rogers (1977) Words and Music by Don Schlitz
