VERSE 1
On a warm summers evening, on a train bound for nowhere, I met up with a gambler we were both too tired to sleep. So we took turns at staring out the window at the darkness, till boredom over took us and he began to speak, He sais "Son I've made a life outta reading peoples faces. Knowing what the cards were byt he way they held their eyes. So if you don't mind me sayin I can see your outta aces for ataste of your whisky I'll give you some advice."
So I handed him my bottle and he drank down my last swallow, then he bombed a cigarette and asked me for a light. And the night got deathly quiet and his face lost all expresion said If your gonna play the game boy you gotta learn to play it right.

CHORUS:
You gotta know when to hold them,
Know when to fold them,
Know when to walk away, know when to run.
You never count your money when your sitting at the table,
There'll be time enough for counting when the dealings done.

VERSE 2
Every gambler knows that the secret to survival is knowing what to throw away and knowing what to keep.
Cause every hands a winner and every hands a loser and the best that you can hope for is to die in your sleep.
And when he finished speaking he turned back towards the window, crushed out his cigarette and faded off to sleep.
And somewhere inthe darkness the gambler he broke even. And in his final words I found an ace that I could keep.

CHORUS

Writer : SCHLITZ, DON
Copyright : Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., EMI Music Publishing