Come 'round, you roving gamblers, and a story I will tell
About the greatest gambler, you all should know him well.
His name was Willie O'Conley and he gambled all his life,
He's had twenty-seven children, yet he's never had a wife.
And it's ride, Willie, ride,
Roll, Willie, roll,
Wherever you're a-gambling now nobody knows.
Well, he gambled in the White House and in the railroad yards,
Wherever there was people, there was Willie and his cards.
He had the reputation as the gamblingest man around,
Wives would keep their husbands home when Willie came to town.
And it's ride, a-Willie, ride,
Roll, Willie, roll,
Wherever you're a-gambling now nobody knows.
Sailing down the Mississippi to a town called New Orleans,
They're still talking about that card game on that Jackson Queen.
"I've come to win some money," Gambling Willie says.
When the game finally ended up, the whole darn boat was his.
And it's ride, Willie, ride,
Roll, Willie, roll,
Wherever you're a-gambling now nobody knows.
Up in the Rocky Mountains in a town called Cripple Creek,
There was an all-night poker game, lasted about a week.
Nine hundred miners had laid their money down,
When Willie finally left the room, he owned the whole darn town.
And it's ride, Willie, ride,
Roll, Willie, roll,
Wherever you're a-gambling now nobody knows.
But Willie had a heart of gold and this I know is true,
He supported all his children and all their mothers too.
He wore no rings or fancy things like other gamblers wore,
He spread his money far and wide to help the sick and poor.
And it's ride, Willie, ride,
Roll, Willie, roll,
Wherever you're a-gambling now nobody knows.
When you played your cards with Willie, you never really knew
Whether he was bluffing or whether he was true.
He won a fortune from a man who folded in his chair,
The man, he left a diamond flush, Willie didn't even have a pair.
And it's ride, Willie, ride,
Roll, Willie, roll,
Wherever you're a-gambling now nobody knows.
It was late one evening during a poker game,
A man lost all his money, said Willie was to blame.
He shot poor Willie through the head, which was a tragic fate,
Willie's cards fell on the floor, they were aces backed with eights.
And it's ride, Willie, ride,
Roll, Willie, roll,
Wherever you're a-gambling now nobody knows.
So, all you rambling gamblers, wherever you might be,
The moral of the story is very plain to see:
Make your money while you can before you have to stop
For, when you pull that dead man's hand, your gambling days are up.
And it's ride, Willie, ride,
Roll, Willie, roll,
Wherever you're a-gambling now nobody knows.