"The Gambler" is a song written by Don Schlitz and recorded by several artists, most famously by American country singer Kenny Rogers.

On the American Top 40 radio program of February 3, 1979, Casey Kasem reported that Schlitz said of "The Gambler": "Something more than me wrote that song.

Other musicians took notice and recorded the song in 1978, including Johnny Cash, who put it on his album Gone Girl.

[1] Released in November 1978 as the title track from Rogers' album The Gambler, this version of the song achieved mainstream success.

The lyrics describe the song's narrator meeting a gambler one summer evening while riding aimlessly on a train.

After the narrator obliges with the whisky as well as a cigarette, the gambler describes his outlook on life using poker metaphors: You've got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em, Know when to walk away, know when to run.

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.

[23] In 2018, it was selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".