肯尼。羅傑思憑着這首歌奪得到79年格萊美最佳鄉村單曲。記得上大學的時候這個美國老頭在同學中還是很受歡迎的，後來隨着大量搖滾歌星的湧入，他的歌被淹沒了。大家都去聽KENNY G,Michael Boton,唐朝，黑豹。。。後來想起他是讀弓枚寫的“猶如滾石”，裡面有這首“賭徒”的歌詞，讀完感覺象一個電影片段，老賭徒的表情動作歷歷在目！雖然鄉村歌曲中向來不乏優秀的敘事作品，這一首依然是其中的矯矯者。
ARTIST: Kenny Rogers
TITLE: The Gambler

On a warm summer's evenin'
on a train bound for nowhere,
I met up with the gambler;
we were both too tired to sleep.
So we took turns a starin'
out the window at the darkness
'Til boredom overtook us, and he began to speak.

He said, "Son, I've made a life
out of readin' people's faces,
And knowin' what their cards were
by the way they held their eyes.
And if you don't mind my sayin',
I can see you're out of aces.
For a taste of your whiskey
I'll give you some advice."

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

You got to know when to hold 'em,
know when to fold 'em,
Know when to walk away
and know when to run.
You never count your money
when you're sittin' at the table.
There'll be time enough for countin'
when the dealin's done.

Ev'ry gambler knows
that the secret to survivin'
Is knowin' what to throw away
and knowing what to keep.
'Cause ev'ry hand's a winner
and ev'ry hand's a loser,
And the best that you can hope for
is to die in your sleep."

And when he'd finished speakin',
he turned back towards the window,
Crushed out his cigarette
and faded off to sleep.
And somewhere in the darkness
the gambler, he broke even.
But in his final words
I found an ace that I could keep.

You got to know when to hold 'em,
know when to fold 'em,
Know when to walk away
and know when to run.
You never count your money
when you're sittin' at the table.
There'll be time enough for countin'
when the dealin's done.