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