[Verse]
I'm a roving gambler
And I gamble down in town
Whenever I meet with a deck of cards
I lay my money down
Boys,I lay my money down

I've gambled up in Washington
Gambled down in Maine
I'm on my way to Georgia
To knock down my last game
Boys, knock down my last game

Well, I had not been in Washington
Many more weeks than three
When I fell in love with a pretty
Little girl
And she fell in love with me
And she fell in love with me

She took me in her parlor
She cooled me with her fan
She whispered low in her mama's ear
"I love this gambling man
Ma, I love this gambling man."

"Well, daughter, my dear daughter
How can you treat me so
To leave your poor old mama
And with this gambler go
And with this gambler go?"

"Well, mama, my dear mama
You know I love you well
But the love I hold for a gambling man
No human tongue can tell
Ma, no human tongue can tell

"I'd never marry a farmer
He's always in the rain
I'd rather marry a gambling man
With a big gold watch and chain
Ma, big gold watch and chain
"And I'd never marry a rail-road man
The reason I'll tell you why
Never did see a rail-road man
Who wouldn't tell his wife a lie
Ma, wouldn't tell his wife a lie

"I hear the train a-coming
Coming around the curve
Whistling and a-blowing
And a-straining every nerve
Ma, straining every nerve

"It's good-bye, good-bye, mama
Tell you if I can
If you ever see me coming home again
It will be with a gambling man
Ma, be with a gambling man."