Schlitz wrote the song in August 1976 when he was 23 years old. On theAmerican Top 40 radio program of February 3, 1979,Casey Kasem reported that Schlitz said of "The Gambler": "Something more than me wrote that song. I'm convinced of that. I really had no idea where the song was coming from. There was something going through my head, which was my father. It was just a song, and it somehow filtered through me. Six weeks later I received the final verse. Months later it came to me that it was inspired by, and possibly a gift from, my father." Schlitz's father had died in 1976.
Schlitz shopped the song around Nashville for two years beforeBobby Bare recorded it on his albumBare at the urging ofShel Silverstein. Bare's version did not catch on and was never released as a single, so Schlitz recorded it himself, but that version failed to chart higher than No. 65. Other musicians took notice and recorded the song in 1978, includingJohnny Cash, who put it on his albumGone Girl.
Released in November 1978 as the title track from Rogers' albumThe Gambler, this version of the song achieved mainstream success. Rogers' version was a No. 1 country hit, and made its way to the pop charts at a time when country songs rarely crossed over, winning him theGrammy Award for Best Male Country Vocal Performance in 1980.[2]
In 2006, Schlitz featured in Rogers' career retrospective documentaryThe Journey, in which he praised both Rogers' and producerLarry Butler's contributions to the song, stating "they added several ideas that were not mine, including the new guitar intro".
The lyrics describe the song's narrator meeting a gambler one summer evening while riding aimlessly on a train. The gambler can tell from the look on the narrator's face that he is in poor circumstances and offers him advice in exchange for a drink ofwhisky. After the narrator obliges with the whisky as well as a cigarette, the gambler describes his outlook on life usingpoker metaphors:
You've got to know when tohold 'em, know when tofold 'em, Know when to walk away, 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.
The gambler states that every situation can be played for better or worse. The trick is to recognize what is worth keeping, choose one's battles, and not dwell on losses. After he finishes talking, the gambler crushes the cigarette out, falls asleep, and passes away in the night, leaving the narrator to ponder his wisdom alone.[3]
The song became Rogers's signature song and most enduring hit. It was one of five consecutive songs by Rogers to hit No. 1 on theBillboard country music charts.[21] On thepop chart, the song made it to No. 16, and No. 3 on theEasy Listening chart.[22] It inspireda series of TV movies loosely inspired by the song and set in theOld West, starting withKenny Rogers as The Gambler (1980) and followed byKenny Rogers as The Gambler: The Adventure Continues (1983),Kenny Rogers as The Gambler, Part III: The Legend Continues (1987),The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw (1991), andGambler V: Playing for Keeps (1994).
As of November 13, 2013, the digital sales of the single stood at 798,000 copies and after all these years the single has yet to be certified gold by RIAA certifications.[23] In 2018, it was selected for preservation in theNational Recording Registry by theLibrary of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".[24] The song was ranked number 18 out of the top 76 songs of the 1970s byInternet radio station WDDF Radio in their 2016 countdown.[25]Following Rogers' death on March 20, 2020, "The Gambler" soared to No. 1 onBillboard'sDigital Song Sales chart, followed by "Islands in the Stream", withDolly Parton, which debuted at No. 2.[26]
In 1979, when Rogers guest-starred in a season 4 episode ofThe Muppet Show, he performed this song with aMuppet character.[27] Rogers is shown seated on a train with three Muppets, one of them The Gambler (portrayed byJerry Nelson). Rogers sings the opening verse, while Nelson sings most of The Gambler's dialog, then falls asleep just as Rogers concludes the song's story. After he dies, The Gambler's spirit rises from his Muppet body, singing backup and dances to the song's last two choruses, and lets a deck of cards fly from his hand before fading away.[28]
A caricature parody of Kenny Rogers singing the song appeared in the 1993AnimaniacsPinky and the Brain short "Bubba Bo Bob Brain" (season 1, episode 34). The lyrics to this version were changed to refer to the children's card gameGo Fish: "You gotta know how to cut 'em, know how to shuffle, know how to deal the cards before you play fish with me."
In the seriesKing of the Hill, “The Gambler” is repeatedly shown to be one of lead character Hank Hill's favorite songs.
In the 2007 episode ofThe Office "Beach Games,"Kevin Malone sings the verses of the song in the bus while the rest of the staff joins him for the chorus. This was a nod to Kevin's gambling problem.
The song is parodied in a 2023 episode ofAmerican Dad!, "The Pink Sphinx Holds Her Hearts on the Turn".Roger claims to be the actual Gambler and that he "fell asleep very very hard" rather than die on the night he met Kenny Rogers, later performing his own version and singing "Kenny Rogers is a liar".
Country Yossi parodied the song in the 1980s on hisWanted album as "The Rabbi".[29]
In the 2006Beaconsfield Mine collapse, trapped miners Brant Webb and Todd Russell sang "The Gambler" together to raise their spirits, as it was the only song they both knew the words and music to.
On July 21, 2009, the song was released for the music gameRock Band as a playable track as part of the "Rock Band Country Track Pack" compilation disc. It was made available via digital download on at the end of 2009.
A 2014Geico television commercial features Rogers singing part of the song a cappella during a card game, to the displeasure of the other players.
