Come around you roving gamblers and a story I will tell
About the greatest gambler, you all should know him well
His name was Will O' Conley and he gambled all his life
He had twenty-seven children, yet he never had a wife

And it's ride, Willie, ride
Roll, Willie, roll
Wherever you are a-gamblin' now, nobody knows

He gambled in the White House and in the railroad yards
Wherever there was people, there was Willie and his cards
He had a reputation as the gamblin'est man around
Wives would keep their husbands home when Willie came to town

And it's roll, Willie, roll
Ride, Willie, ride
Wherever you are a-gamblin' now, no one will knows

Sailing down the Mississippi to a town called New Orleans
They're still talking about their 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
Wherever you are a-gamblin' now, nobody really knows

Well, up in the Rocky Mountains in a town called Cripple Creek
There was an all-night poker game that lasted about a week
Nine hundred miners had laid their money down
When Willie finally left the room, he owned the whole damn town

And it's ride, Willie, ride
Roll, Willie, roll
Wherever you are a-gamblin' 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 spread his money far and wide, to help the sick and the poor
He wore no rings or fancy things, like other gamblers wore

And it's ride, Willie, ride
Roll, Willie, roll
Wherever you are a-gamblin' 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 while Willie didn't even care

And it's roll, Willie, roll
Ride, Willie, ride
Wherever you are a-gamblin' now, nobody can tell

Come around you roving gamblers and a story I will tell
About the greatest gambler, you all should know him well
His name was Will O' Conley and he gambled all his life
He had twenty-seven children, yet he never had a wife

And it's ride, Willie, ride
Roll, Willie, roll
Wherever you are a-gamblin' now, nobody, nobody, nobody knows