Come around you rovin' gamblers
and a story I will tell
About the greatest gambler
you all should know and well
His name was Will O' Connolly
and he gambled all his life
He had twenty -seven children
yet he's never had a wife
And it's right, Willie, right, roll, roll
Well, if you're a gamblin' now,
nobody really knows
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 gamblinest man around
Wives would keep their husbands
home
when Willie came to town
And it's ride, Willie, ride, roll, Willie, roll
Well, you're a gamblin' now,
nobody really knows
Sailin' down to Mississippi,
to a town called New Orleans
They're still talkin' about that card game
on that Jackson River, Queen
I've come to win some money,
gamblin' Willie says
When the game finally ended up,
the whole damn boat was his
And it's ride Willie, ride, roll
Willie, roll
Well, he's over gamblin' now,
nobody really knows
Up in the Rocky Mountains,
in a town called Crippled Creek
There was an all -night poker game,
lasted about a week
Nine hundred miners
had laid their money down
When Willie fi nally left the room,
he owned the whole damn town
And it's ride, Willie, ride, roll, Willie, roll
Well, you're a gamblin' now,
nobody really 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 the poor
And it's right, Willie, right,
for old Willie O 'Rourke
Well, you're a gamblin' now,
nobody really knows
When you played your cards with Willie,
you never really knew
Whether he was bluffin'
or whether he was true
He won a fortune
from a man who folded in his chair
The man, left a diamond flush,
Willie didn't even have a pad
Man, that's right, Willie, right,
roll, Willie, roll
Wherever you're a -gamblin' now,
nobody really 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
And 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 -gamblin' now,
nobody really knows
So all you rovin' 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 gamblin' days are up
And it's ride, Willie, ride,
roll, Willie, roll
Wherever you're a -gamblin' now,
nobody really knows.