Come around you roving gamblers
And a story I will tell
About the greatest gambler
You all should know him well
His name was Willie O'Connelly
And he gambled all his life
He's had 27 children yet he's never had a wife
And he tried Willie, right?
Roll Willie, roll
Wherever you're gambling now, nobody knows
Well,
he gambled in the White House And in the railroad yards
Wherever there was people There was Willie at his cards
He had the reputation As the gambler's man around
Wives would keep their husbands home When Willie came to town
And it's right, Willie, right?
Roll Willie,
roll Wherever you're 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 vote was his
And it's right, Willie, right?
Roll Willie, roll
Wherever you're gambling now, nobody knows
Up in the Rocky Mountains In a town called Cripple Creek
There was an all-night poker game It 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 right, Willie, right?
Roll Willie, roll
Wherever you're 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 right, Willie, right?
Roll Willie, roll
Wherever you're 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 hair
And it's right, Willie, right?
Roll Willie,
roll Wherever you're gambling now,
nobody knows
It was late one evening During a poker game
A man lost all his money Says 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 back with eights
And it's right, Willie, right?
Roll Willie, roll
Wherever you're gambling now,
nobody really 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 a dead man's hand The gambling days are up
And it's right, Willie, right?
Roll Willie, roll
Wherever you're gambling now, nobody knows