Capo 1st Fret (In a moderate country half-time) On a ^Dwarm summer's evenin' on a ^G/Dtrain bound for ^Dnowhere, I met up with the gambler; we were both too tired to ^Asleep. So ^Dwe took turns a starin' out the ^G/Dwindow at the ^Ddarkness 'til ^G/Dboredom overtook ^Dus, ^Aand he began to ^Dspeak. He said, ^D"Son, I've made a life out of ^G/Dreadin' 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 ^G/Dsee you're out of ^Daces. For a ^G/Dtaste 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 ^Emi/Ayour ^Dmoney when you're ^Gsittin' at the ^Dtable. There'll be time ^Genough for ^Dcountin' ^Awhen the dealin's ^Ddone. ^{Slide capo to 2nd fret D}Ev'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 ^Dsomewhere in the darkness the ^Ggambler, he broke ^Deven. But ^Gin his final ^Dwords I found an ^Aace that I could ^Dkeep. 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 ^Emi/Ayour ^Dmoney when you're ^Gsittin' at the ^Dtable. There'll be time ^Genough for ^Dcountin' ^Awhen the dealin's ^Ddone. ^{Repeat chorus once and end}