The Gambler - Kenny Rogers, guitar chords

Published: 2022-12-27 19:15
Selection chords: Sarah Harris

      G                            C                 G
On a warm summerʼs eveninʼ on a train bound for nowhere,
   C                 G                  C                   D
I met up with the gambler; we were both too tired to sleep.
    G                                 C               G
So we took turns a starinʼ out the window at the darkness
      C             G          D                 G
ʼtil boredom overtook us, and he began to speak.

          G                               C                  G
He said, "Son, Iʼve made a life out of readinʼ peopleʼs faces,
     C                    G                   C                 D
and knowinʼ what their cards were by the way they held their eyes.
        G                                 C                   G
And if you donʼt mind my sayinʼ, I can see youʼre out of aces.
       C               G              D               G
For a taste of your whiskey Iʼll give you some advice."

      G                             C                    G
So I handed him my bottle and he drank down my last swallow.
 C                  G               C                D
Then he bummed a cigarette and asked me for a light.
         G                                  C                   G
And the night got deathly quiet, and his face lost all expression.
                  C                      G               D
Said, "If youʼre gonna play the game, boy, ya gotta learn
                 G
to play it right.

Chorus:
            G                       C               G
You got to know when to hold ʼem, know when to fold ʼem,
 C              G           C             D
know when to walk away and know when to run.
           G                              C              G
You never count your money when youʼre sittinʼ at the table.
                  C            G          D                G
Thereʼll be time enough for countinʼ when the dealinʼs done.

 D                              C             G
Evʼry gambler knows that the secret to survivinʼ
    C                G             C                 D
is knowinʼ what to throw away and knowing what to keep.
        G                           C              G
ʼCause evʼry handʼs a winner and evʼry handʼs a loser,
         C                   G                D           G
and the best that you can hope for is to die in your sleep."

     G                                 C                       G
And when heʼd finished speakinʼ, he turned back towards the window,
 C                 G               C           D
crushed out his cigarette and faded off to sleep.
     G                               C               G
And somewhere in the darkness the gambler, he broke even.
     C              G                  D              G
But in his final words I found an ace that I could keep.