what does riverboat gambler mean

The Meaning Behind The Song: Riverboat Gambler by Jimmie Skinner

As a music journalist, I often find myself diving into the rich stories and emotions behind some of the greatest songs ever written. Today, I want to share with you the meaning behind the timeless classic “Riverboat Gambler” by Jimmie Skinner.

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I first heard this song on a lazy Sunday afternoon when I stumbled upon it at a friend’s house. Immediately, I was captivated by the haunting melody and Skinner’s soulful vocals. It was as if the song transported me to a different era, where life on the Mississippi River was both exhilarating and dangerous.

The Journey Begins

Skinner’s lyrics paint a vivid picture of a riverboat gambler who made a living betting his roll on Jacks and Queens. This mysterious character finds himself onboard an old riverboat, making his way to the vibrant city of New Orleans.

With each line, Skinner beautifully captures the essence of an era long gone. The imagery of the boat backing away from the shore and the gambler standing on the deck, knowing he will never return, creates a sense of adventure and melancholy.

A Life of Gambling

Skinner delves into the gambler’s life, where luck and skill go hand in hand. We witness the gambler at the poker table, shuffling cards with precision and dealing them out without uttering a single word. His prowess is evident as he wins every hand, never experiencing defeat.

Through these verses, Skinner explores the allure and excitement of gambling. It’s a world where the highs are exhilarating, and the constant possibility of losing keeps players on their toes. The riverboat gambler becomes a symbol of resilience, risking everything for that elusive jackpot.

The Twist of Fate

Just as the gambler’s winnings mount, a gun-hand named Jack offers a warning. He reveals that luck alone cannot secure victory in the game of life. However, before the gambler can process these words, tragedy strikes.

In a moment of betrayal, a pistol sounds, and the riverboat gambler falls to the floor. It is revealed that an Ace was tucked in his sleeve, tarnishing his reputation and sealing his fate. His days of gambling are abruptly ended, leaving behind a legacy of boldness and deceit.

The Legacy Lives On

“Riverboat Gambler” is a quintessential country and western song that showcases Jimmie Skinner’s masterful storytelling abilities. It serves as a reminder of the temptations and risks that come with a life on the edge, while also celebrating the allure of the unknown.

The song was released in December 1959, and it has remained a beloved classic ever since. Through its timeless lyrics and Skinner’s emotive delivery, “Riverboat Gambler” continues to captivate audiences, transporting them to a bygone era of excitement and danger.

So next time you find yourself yearning for a taste of nostalgia, put on “Riverboat Gambler” by Jimmie Skinner. Let the haunting melody and poignant lyrics take you on a journey down the Mississippi River, and immerse yourself in the world of the riverboat gambler.

Album title: Country & Western (A Ride Through History • 1924-1960): CD 37 – History Of 1960 Part 1 (2012)

Written By: Vernon W. Lyons & Jimmie Skinner

Release Date: December 1959

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Carly Simon

Riverboat gambler, riverboat gambler lyrics.

Riverboat gamble

Posted by ESC on January 15, 2007

In Reply to: Riverboat gamble posted by ESC on January 15, 2007

: : Does anyone know the origin of the phrase 'riverboat gamble'? It was mentioned on Channel 4 news last week and I can't seem to trace it back any further than a political discussion on Reaganomics.

: : Cheers, : : Gareth.

: "It's more than a risk, it's a riverboat gamble," said Leon E. Panetta, a Democratic member of the Iraq Study Group and former chief of staff to President Bill Clinton. : www.ndnblog.org

: "Tom Daschle has made a riverboat gamble, and he stands to lose his political shirt." www.nationalreview.com/ kudlow/kudlow010902.shtml Accessed January 15, 2007.

: I can't find it in my reference books. But I am guessing that it means the odds are stacked against you. And that in the past riverboat gambling was fixed so the house won most of the time.

Or maybe a gamble on a riverboat was risky because: "Rich and poor ships also carried the notorious 'Mississippi river gamblers' or 'river gamblers' (both terms common by the late 1840s), ranging from the professional poker players who fleeced plantation owners of their year's profits to sleight-of-hand artists and con men who preyed on the poorer innocents." From I Hear America Talking: An Illustrated History of American Words and Phrases by Stuart Berg Flexner (Von Nostrand Reinhold Co., New York, 1976). Page 347.

How Riverboat Gambling Became Riverboat Gaming

Kevin has been involved in the gambling industry since the ‘80s. From winning tournaments to casino management, he’s ultimately done it all. Throughout the years, he’s written for various iGaming publications on topics such as the legal landscape of online casinos and strategies behind winning. His favorite game is blackjack.

Cash-strapped states across the South and Midwest in the late eighties and early nineties were desperate for a new source of cash revenue that didn’t raise taxes. Gambling seemed like an easy way out, but it was going to be a hard sell to dubious voters.

But what if they used the allure of the old riverboat gambling myths and the promise of using the riverboat casinos to keep the gambling scourge at arm’s length from impacted communities? Could they sell this new, sanitized riverboat gaming to their constituents?

The Evolution of Gaming on America’s Rivers

We will explore the history of riverboat gaming in America from the early 19th century right into the 21st. We will discuss how it morphed and was delicately managed to become a product that a broad number of people could support a few decades ago, before starting another slow decline, and we take a closer look at some of its few bright remaining stars.

• ⛴ The History of Riverboat Gambling
• ⛴ The Beginnings of Riverboat Gaming
• ⛴ A Few of the Best Riverboat Casinos Remaining
• ⛴ Conclusion

The History of Riverboat Gambling

The first steamboat to make the trip down the Ohio and then the Mississippi was aptly named New Orleans, and she made her inaugural trip in 1811. For the next 100 years, these boats would define commerce along the nation’s mighty rivers. And with commerce comes con men.

The huge sums of money that came from moving much of the fledgling nation’s goods up and down the rivers would prove to be a powerful temptation. While much of the gambling that soon developed on these long, slow trips along the river was legal, many of the men who came to play were on the wrong side of the law .

Not even two decades into the new steamboat trade and there were articles in the Eastern papers about the con men, card sharps, and confidence scams being run on every bumpkin that set foot on a boat. In 1835, the townsfolk in Vicksburg had had enough; they lynched 5 of the “professional gamblers” and burned every Faro table in town, which was stated to be in the dozens.

Much like the frontiersman who preceded them and the Wild West lawmen who would come later, these sharply dressed, supremely confident riverboat gamblers who plied their way on the steamboats of the Mississippi using only their luck and some “skills” they’d picked up along the way were the subject of many salacious headlines and stories in their day. Despite their many obvious flaws, an almost reverence was bestowed on them as archetypical American heroes.

The Beginnings Of Riverboat Gaming

The hay day of the Riverboat gambler started to fade in the 1860s during the Civil War, and then with the advent of railroads, they were soon all but forgotten. But in the early 1990s, states desperate for tax revenue and looking at the success of Las Vegas and Atlantic City decided to retest the waters of riverboat gambling.

This time, it was a way of introducing limited casino operations only along the waterways of the State’s rivers, selling it to their constituents as a diversion and pastime. Thus, the term riverboat gaming was needed . This was to be entertainment and frivolity, none of those card sharps and hustlers from the good ole days. So, a new term was coined.

Iowa led the riverboat race with the Diamond Lady in Bettendorf in April 1991. But riverboat gaming would soon come to Illinois, Mississippi, Missouri, Louisiana , and other states along the Mississippi and other large rivers like the Missouri and Ohio and even the Fox and Red Rivers.

Used mainly as a stalking horse for the eventual opening of land-based casinos in most of these states, many gamblers found the cramped quarters, the limited selection of slots and tables, and most egregious of all, the ability to only embark or disembark while the boat was at the pier, to be a let down from the Las Vegas style experience that they had been promised.

In Iowa, the first land-based casinos made an appearance in just three years. In every State, some accommodations were made , from no longer having to cruise the dangerous rivers to being allowed to move on to barges over the river to being able to move to land as long as you were adjacent to the river. This was a push generally called dock-side gaming, which meant that the actual return of elegant paddle wheelers with blackjack, roulette, and slot machines prowling the Mississippi again lasted less than a decade.

Dock-side gaming was far safer and allowed gamblers to come and go as they pleased , which drove casino revenues much higher. Also, the ability in some states to move either onto barges or land-based casinos adjacent to piers saw some spectacular casinos get built that could finally meet the promise of a Las Vegas experience.

A Few Of The Best Riverboat Casinos Remaining

If you are going to visit one of the grand old ladies of the river, we think that you should start with the actual riverboats that once traveled the Mississippi, and of these, the Amelia Belle is one of the most iconic .

Situated about an hour and a half outside New Orleans, deep in Cajun Country, this beautiful riverboat gambling hall has over 30,000 square feet of gaming space , 800 slots, and a dozen table games. Before she was damaged during Hurricane Katrina, she sailed up the river from the port of New Orleans several times a day in the mid-90s, but she now sits permanently in Bayou Bouef, her expedition days behind her.

Since Louisiana has kept its premise of at least gambling on a boat, even if its moored in a giant pool or cemented to the dock, longer than most other of the original riverboat casino states, it’s no wonder we can find most of the truly breathtaking and best riverboat casinos there.

Another of the must-see gambling boats sits on the Red River in Shreveport, Louisiana. Chosen for its 20-minute proximity to the Texas border and only two and a half hours drive from Dallas, Shreveport was once a thriving riverboat gambling town and one of the country’s premier riverboat casino locations. But the Indian tribes in Oklahoma, which sit only an hour outside of Dallas to the North, have taken some of their business.

Still, there are several other riverboats operating in Shreveport, but what we think makes the Sam’s Town Property, one of the best riverboat casinos in Louisiana , is that they’ve turned a 30,000-square-foot gaming boat into a destination resort. They have a 500+ room hotel directly adjacent and tied into the property with four restaurants including a really nice steak house and lots of other amenities. The boat itself has over 1000 slots and more than 27 table games.

One of the best riverboat casinos outside of Louisiana is the Grand Victoria in Elgin, Illinois. Built back in 1995, she was spared the dangers of cruising the Fox River in 1999, when Illinois was one of the last states to end their riverboat gaming rules that required the boats to leave their docks. Today, this 30,000-foot boat has room for 1100 slots and almost 30 tables and even sports an onboard buffet and three other restaurants. She is one of the prettier examples of the early 1990s boats that you will see as well, and it is well worth your time to get a good vantage point and take in her lines.

While both the age of riverboat gamblers and its more recent short-lived renaissance of riverboat gaming are now a thing of the past, the allure of cruising the mighty Mississippi while making your living playing cards and shooting dice will probably live on into the distant future. There is something about the water flowing past and the land slipping by out the window that just seems to call for a quick hand of poker or a spin on the roulette wheel.

It’s a call back to a time when the men and women who traveled these waterways were used to risking everything in order to follow their dreams. Get out there and check out some of those boats, wander the decks, play a hand or two of blackjack, and contemplate that river streaming by while you still have a chance to see a dying American breed , the last of the riverboat casinos.

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Meaning of Riverboat Gambler by Jimmie Skinner

Riverboat Gambler

Jimmie Skinner

Listen to the full song on Apple Music

The song "Riverboat Gambler" by Jimmie Skinner tells the story of a man who is an experienced and skilled gambler. He is known as a riverboat gambler, someone who plays high-stakes games on riverboats.

In the chorus, it is established that the protagonist bets his fortune on Jacks and Queens, indicating that he prefers card games. He is on a riverboat, making his way to New Orleans, known for its vibrant gambling scene.

In the first verse, the lyrics describe him standing on the riverboat's deck, fully aware that he may never return. He carries a deck of cards in his hands and a gun by his side, highlighting his readiness for both gambling and potential danger. The Memphis-New Orleans run is referred to as his regular route, indicating his familiarity with this setting.

The second verse conveys the atmosphere of the gambling games on the riverboat. The protagonist starts playing and luck seems to be on his side; he wins every hand. This emphasizes his skill and reputation as a successful gambler.

However, in the next verse, an onlooker named Jack comments that winning can't be solely attributed to luck, suggesting that the protagonist must cheat to maintain his victories. The song takes a dark turn as a pistol is fired, and the gambler collapses. It is revealed that he had an Ace hidden in his sleeve, proving that he cheated to win. This revelation leads to his downfall, and he will no longer be able to gamble.

Overall, "Riverboat Gambler" tells the tale of a skilled gambler who resorts to cheating and ultimately meets his demise. The song explores themes of risk-taking, the allure of gambling, and the consequences of unethical behavior.

This meaning interpretation was written by AI. Help improve it with your feedback

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riverboat gambling noun

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What does the noun riverboat gambling mean?

There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun riverboat gambling . See ‘Meaning & use’ for definition, usage, and quotation evidence.

How common is the noun riverboat gambling ?

Where does the noun riverboat gambling come from?

Earliest known use

The earliest known use of the noun riverboat gambling is in the 1950s.

OED's earliest evidence for riverboat gambling is from 1953, in the Times (London).

riverboat gambling is formed within English, by compounding.

Etymons: riverboat n. , gambling n.

Nearby entries

• riverbed, n. 1781–
• river birch, n. 1846–
• river black-oak, n. 1886–98
• river-blanched, adj. 1788
• river blindness, n. 1952–
• river boar, n. 1601
• river board, n. 1823–
• riverboat, n. 1565–
• riverboat casino, n. 1958–
• riverboat gambler, n. 1920–
• riverboat gambling, n. 1953–
• river bottom, n. 1662–
• river-boy, n. 1791–
• River Brethren, n. 1849–
• river bull, n. 1639–1709
• river bullhead, n. 1763–
• river bus, n. 1929–
• river capture, n. 1890–
• river carp, n. 1653–
• river cat, n. 1770–
• river channel, n. 1629–

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Meaning & use

Entry history for riverboat gambling, n..

Originally published as part of the entry for riverboat, n.

riverboat gambling, n. was first published in 2009.

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Factsheet for riverboat gambling, n., browse entry.

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There are various areas of the world that just seem synonymous with gambling. When people hear the name Las Vegas they picture gambling of a flashy, mass entertainment proportion. Macau ’ s gambling culture brings a real Asian flavour to gambling, with many inevitably comparing it to Vegas. Monte Carlo delivers gambling connotations of wealth and prestige. Obviously, it is not just physical areas where gambling has a strong presence, with the web and mobile space being  dominated by PartyCasino  and other big names in the industry.

Another, yet somewhat less spectacular, sight that can only be associated with gambling is the steam propelled riverboat of certain states in the USA. How did these iconic vessels come to be known for hosting casinos, and what is the current status of riverboat casinos today?

On Water, But Not Land

There is a network of rivers that penetrate inland from the Gulf of Mexico up through the United States,  most famously the Mississippi River . In the 19 th  Century the rivers provided a fantastic way to transport goods from town to town up and down the bodies of water. This in turn became a popular method of passenger transport, with travellers using the boat to socialise. One of the most popular forms of entertainment was  play at online Irish casino , and therefore this pastime became highly popular aboard the vessels. 

There were also, and still are today, laws that prohibited gambling on land. However, the proprietor s  of these boats took advantage of the loophole not extending these laws to establishments on water. Even today,  riverboats are still to be found on the Mississippi  and is still considered one of the best for cruises. Certain rivers acted as state lines, so it was sometimes argued that the gamblers could not be classified as being in one state or another while steaming down a river.

Railroads and War

As mentioned, the riverboats were first and foremost a means of transportation and enjoyed such success due to it being the quickest and most reliable means of travel and delivery of goods. However, when railroads started to spread across the country, they opened up new routes that got people around in a more direct manner. The trains also cut days off travel and therefore started to overtake the riverboats in popularity.

Around the same time the  American Civil War  broke out, a period where much of the fighting was done in the Southern States which defied the laws laid out by the North. This meant that riverboat entertainment almost came to a complete end.

The Riverboats of Today

Unlike the boats of old, which used to set off on long journeys to various destinations, the vessels of now mostly remain docked and very seldom actually take to the open waters. However, one will still be able to undergo the traditional experience that thousands enjoyed before casinos became what we are familiar with today.

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History of Riverboat Gambling on the Mississippi

The South has always been at least somewhat friendly to gambling due to the rise of the riverboat in the early 1900s. Games of chance were kept on the water so that anti-gambling laws wouldn’t apply. Games like poker and roulette took place on grand riverboats, even if the ship never left the dock.

This tradition was greatly reduced when the railroad became the main way to transport both goods and people, but some riverboats remain in the South today. In Mississippi and Louisiana, especially, retired steamboats are now used for river cruising and for gambling in places like Vicksburg.

Online casinos are one of the latest innovations in the casino industry. Since the rise of technological advancements, they are solid competitors to U.S.-based land-based casinos. Many gambling restrictions still remain in the South and across the ocean. For example, every casino in the UK gets licensed by the UK Gambling Commission.

The regulations of the U.S. online casino market have led to developers existing who only get associated with U.S. casinos and are not available at UK-based gaming sites. Some famous developers for the U.S. market are RealTime Gaming, Relax Gaming, Rival Gaming, Elk Studios and Betsoft.

But for those players who want the old-time experience of dressing up and boarding a grand steamboat, the South has plenty for them. Just look along the Mississippi River from Missouri to Louisiana. According to Visit Mississippi , the first steamboat to travel the Mississippi River was the New Orleans, whose October 1811 maiden voyage began in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The New Orleans stopped in Natchez in December 1811 before continuing to its final port in New Orleans.

Wealthy Southerners could afford to travel by steamboat, and some were ornately decorated in the Victorian style. The riverboat casinos that remain today continue that grand tradition, with music playing onboard, restaurants available to players and even live entertainment offered regularly.

So, if you want to step back in time and experience the old South by river—without all the outlaws and pirates —consider a riverboat cruise or evening of gaming.

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Legends of America

Traveling through american history, destinations & legends since 2003., george devol – old west card sharp.

George Devol

“I don’t know just how thick my old skull is, but I do know that it is pretty thick, or it would have been cracked many years ago, for I have been struck some terrible blows on my head with iron dray-pins, pokers, clubs, stone-coal, and bowlders, which would have split any man’s skull wide open unless it was pretty thick. Doctors have often told me that my skull was nearly an inch in thickness over my forehead.”

– George Devol, Forty Years a Gambler on the Mississippi

George H. Devol was the greatest riverboat gambler in the history of the Mississippi River. He was also a con artist, a fighter, and a master at manipulating men and their money.

Born on August 1, 1829, in Marietta, Ohio, George Devol was the youngest of six children. His father was a ship carpenter and was often away from home. Though Devol had good opportunities for early education, he didn’t like school and spent most of his time playing hooky. The unmanageable boy was also prone to fighting, coming home almost daily with scratches and bruises from his numerous scuffles. When a teacher attempted to discipline him with a hardy whipping, he would turn on them, hitting them with stones that he carried in his pocket. While his father was away building boats much of the time, his mother would be forced to call in a neighbor or passerby to help with his punishment.

Devol ran away at the age of ten, serving as a cabin boy on a riverboat steamer called the Wacousta .  Evidently, Devol did a good job in this capacity as he soon took a better-paying job on a boat called Walnut Hills .

Another boat came soon after – the Cicero , where Devol learned to play “Seven-Up” and the art of bluffing. Seeing the high lifestyle of the professional gamblers on the boat, Devol was determined to follow in their footsteps, and by the time he was in his teens, he could deal seconds, palm cards, and recover the cut.

Fighting would continue to be a natural part of his life, and he soon developed skills with a gun, never hesitating to pull it.

By the time the Mexican War broke out, he was on a boat called the Tiago . Soon, Devol thought it a good idea to go to war and got a job as a barkeeper on the Corvette , bound for the Rio Grande and Mexico.

While aboard the Corvette, he met a man who taught him how to “stock a deck.” Upon reaching the Rio Grande and joining the forces, he quickly utilized his newly learned skills to swindle the other soldiers. But he grew bored with soldiering, and with his pockets filled with his ill-earned gains, he returned to New Orleans, although not for long.

At the tender age of 17, Devol’s pockets were filled with almost three thousand dollars as he headed back home to Ohio, laden with gifts for his family.

While back in Ohio, he mastered the games of Faro and Rondo.  Devol continued to hone his skills and made hundreds of thousands of dollars in the years before the Civil War .  Working the steamboats of the South, he joined in with other card sharps, including Canada Bill Jones , Bill Rollins, Big Alexander, and many others over the years.

Playing Faro

One trick that Devol liked to play was betting against ministers, who inevitably lost their meager wages to the professional gambler. However, Devol would always return their money, along with this advice: “Go and sin no more.” But to the many soldiers, paymasters, farmers, thieves, and businessmen, he was not so kind.

When the war was over, the railroads began to head west, with settlements sprouting up all along the way.  Many of these burgeoning towns, often filled with railroad workers, miners, and cowboys provided all manner of vices, including prostitution , numerous saloons , and the ever-present gambling halls. Supplying perfect opportunities for Devol’s operation, he followed the railroad expansion between Kansas City and Cheyenne in the early 1870s.

According to his account, Devol was working the Gold Room Saloon in Cheyenne when he encountered Wild Bill Hickok .  Devol tells the story that when Hickok placed a $50 bet, he lost.  He then placed another $50 bet, winning the hand that time; however, the dealer handed him back only $25.  When Wild Bill protested, the dealer stated that the house limit was $25. “But you took 50 when I lost,” said Hickok, to which the dealer responded, “Fifty goes when you lose.” The quick-tempered Hickok wasn’t about to accept those terms “sitting down” and quickly whacked the dealer on the head with his walking stick, turned over the table, and stuffed his pockets with the till.

On another occasion, when Devol was working the railroad route, he beat a railroad director out of $1,200.  This one-time winning game resulted in Devol’s profession being quickly curbed when the outraged official prohibited gambling on trains.  Further, the Pinkerton agency was hired to be on the lookout for the most notorious professional gamblers, including Devol.

In 1892, Devol published his autobiography, Forty Years a Gambler on the Mississippi , telling of his life and probably exaggerating much of it. Shortly after he published his book, the great days of railroad and riverboat gambling were over. At his new wife’s insistence, he retired from gambling for good in 1896 and spent the last years of his life selling his book.

It is estimated that Devol won over two million dollars in his forty years of gambling.  However, when he died in Hot Springs , Arkansas , in 1903, he was nearly penniless.

Reno, Nevada Gambling, 1910

©  Kathy Weiser-Alexander / Legends of America , updated November 2021.

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Ethics and Morality

The meaning of "the gambler", kenny rogers explains the probabilities of life..

Posted May 12, 2020 | Reviewed by Kaja Perina

Written by David Schlitz in 1976 and made famous by Kenny Rogers in 1978, " The Gambler " is a classic country song about a train, a stranger, and a conversation about poker. Schlitz, a 23-year-old unknown songwriter, later associated the song with getting advice from his father, who had died two years earlier. (Neither man was involved in gambling.) Rogers later related it to life in the Old West, with the risks and rewards of frontier life.

I’ve read what I could in search of interpretations of the song's meaning, but I found little. So I decided to write down what it means to me, a personal reading of course, as is everything artistic.

If understood as counsel about life, the general advice of the song isn’t straightforward. Sometimes you should do one thing (hold 'em), sometimes another (fold 'em). That’s not an ethic of duties or rules. It is similar, though, to a style of ethics most associated with Aristotle —the concept of the golden mean. The idea here isn’t to take the middle path between extremes, but rather to tailor behavior to circumstances. Sometimes storming the barricades is courage; sometimes it’s reckless. It depends on the likelihood of success at the barricade. That’s what makes life tough. We can’t tell our children or ourselves to always act this way or that. Sometimes you have to adjust. There may be a few rules worth doing all the time, but those tend to be the easy decisions: Don’t kill. Don’t steal. Most of life’s dilemmas fall outside these rules. They become a matter of probability—of gambling.

That’s where the song comes in:

Title: The Gambler

Life is a story of probability. All of life is about decisions, for which outcomes are unknown. We make our best guesses that things will turn out more or less one way or the other. Gambling is a game of probability. Every human is a gambler on life. When you have children, the medieval author wrote, you give hostages to fortune.

On a train bound to nowhere

Life is a journey; we are travelers, pilgrims, in the language of religious tradition. But there’s no proof that we’re going anywhere. Nowhere may be the destination.

Boredom overtook us and he began to speak

When you are alone or limited in what you can do, like on a train or during a quarantine, you can't distract yourself superficially, as you do most of your life. You're bored. But it's also a chance to ask the profound questions and replace forgetful living with authentic life.

He said: Son I’ve made a life out of reading people’s faces

Knowing what their cards were by the way they held their eyes

So if you don’t my saying, I can see you’re out of aces

For a taste of your whiskey, I’ll give you some advice.

Develop the ability to have intuitions about others. This isn't your gut technically, but your unconscious mind, talking to you. You can tell something about someone, even if you can’t rationally explain it. Trust that intuition .

The night got deathly quiet, and his face lost all expression

He said if you’re gonna play the game, boy, you gotta learn to play it right.

Life is a game we are forced to play. We need to learn the best way to play. Our lives are practice sessions, repeated forever, as we learn to play the game right.

You got to know when to hold 'em

Don’t just do something, stand there. Sometimes the right thing is to do nothing. Wait, until the right decision becomes clear to you. Engage in creative procrastination . The problem might even go away before you need to fix it.

Know when to fold 'em

Sometimes retreat is the right decision. Don’t fight every battle.

Know when to walk away

When you retreat, sometimes you can do it slowly, gradually, bit by bit.

Know when to run

Sometimes you have to admit defeat all at once, and just get out of there.

Notice that this key chorus is all about how to handle defeat or failure. That's what matters, because life never is all about success. Success usually grows out of failure, if it happens at all. Failure determines who we will become.

You never count your money when you’re sitting at the table

Don’t pause to measure your riches, to see how much you have. Don’t count your awards and seek more. Don’t be greedy. When things are going well, let the winnings come and be grateful , but don’t pay too much attention to the details.

There’ll be time enough for counting when the dealing’s done.

When finished with your work, whether when you retire or temporarily at other times, then take stock of what you’ve achieved. Once, maybe twice in a lifetime, when you’ve reached the peak of a mountain, pause and look around. No need to keep pausing and looking as you're ascending. Never call a man happy until he is dead, because only then can you know for certain.

Every gambler knows that the secret to surviving

Is knowing what to throw away, and knowing what to keep

'Cause every hands a winner, and every hands a loser

This stanza is the most meaningful of the song: You were thrown into a world not of your own making, given a certain hand in life. You were born in a certain place, to certain parents, with certain privileges and drawbacks. You deserve no credit for your family's achievements and no blame for its faults. Your parents didn't give you a bad hand; it's good in some ways and can be improved in others. You need to know what to change, and what to keep the same.

You don’t need a better wife for a better life, or better kids or a better car, or a bigger house, or a nicer climate. You have everything you need now to be happy and everything to be miserable. Your start may have been lucky or unlucky, but you can either improve your lot or worsen it. Credit and blame follow upon the direction in which you go.

And the best that you can hope for, is to die in your sleep

In the end, if you succeed, you’ll stay healthy, live long, get old, not get a serious disease, and fade away gradually. That’s success.

And somewhere in the darkness, the gambler he broke even.

There’s an old Muslim teaching that when you come into the world, you come naked and neutral. You neither own anything or owe anything. So, too, when you die, you should be buried naked in a white shroud, and you should conduct your affairs so that at your death, you leave no inheritance and no debts. You should owe what you own. You should break even.

And in his final words I found an ace that I could keep.

Nassir Ghaemi, M.D., M.P.H., is Professor of Psychiatry at Tufts University and Lecturer in Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.

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The Riverboat Gamblers – Something To Crow About: #445 of best 1,000 albums ever!

So why is The Riverboat Gamblers’ Something To Crow About on this best 1,000 albums ever thing?

I recall reading an interview with George Thorogood (he of “& the Destroyers” fame) some years back, in which he talks about how styles of music relate to food. Sometimes you’re in the mood for filet mignon, and other times you’re in the mood for a delicious hamburger and fries that’s served up just right.

I’m here to report that The Riverboat Gamblers serve up one tasty burger with Something To Crow About .

This is garage punk out of the heart of Texas with a blistering pace and an act first, ask questions never attitude. And it hits the spot oh so right.

Consider the song titles alone of the best two songs on Something To Crow About : “Ooh Yeah” and “Hey! Hey! Hey!” The Riverboat Gamblers are not trying to convey the nuances of first love or speak about the perils of Brexit or some such. They are here for one purpose, and that is to rock. And if the garage happens to be empty, they would be perfectly satisfied, I feel sure, to rock out alone.  

Consider too that Something To Crow About contains 13 songs and its running time is south of 29 minutes. There’s zero fluff on these songs: they get in, they go hard, and then they get out.

And while most of the rest of the album consists of thrash-tastic tracks like “Dead From the Neck Up” and “Cut-Cut-Cut-Cut” (which has a nice Hives vibe in some respects), “Lottie Mae” proves that The Riverboat Gamblers have at least one other gear. Which is to say it’s a nice bluesy number that has more than a little kinship to 1950s rock & roll by way of Ritchie Valens .

Personal stuff that has something to do with The Riverboat Gamblers’ Something To Crow About

The song title “Hey! Hey! Hey!” is funny to me because it directly relates to something my wife and I fell into saying to our sweet but spazzy dog, Jack, every now and then.

For example, Jack will get excited and start licking my leg while I’m distracted doing something, and my go to thing to say will be, “Hey! Hey! Hey!” which has a rough human-to-dog translation of I love you my guy but cool it with the licking of my leg, okay please ?

And Jack gets it, eventually.

Some stats & info about The Riverboat Gamblers’ Something To Crow About

• What kind of musical stylings does this album represent? Rock Music, Punk Music, Garage Punk, Punk Revival
• Rolling Stone ’s greatest 500 albums ranking – not ranked!
• All Music ’s rating – 4 out of 5 stars
• When was Something To Crow About released? 2003
• My ranking, the one you’re reading right now – #445 out of 1,000

The Riverboat Gamblers’ Something To Crow About on Spotify

A lyrical snippet from the riverboat gamblers’ something to crow about that’s evocative of the album in some way, maybe.

Listen to me scream and shout, ‘cause all my teeth are falling out.

What does the “best 1,000 albums ever” mean and why are you doing this?

Yeah, I know it’s audacious, a little crazy (okay, maybe a lot cray cray), bordering on criminal nerdery.

But here’s what it’s NOT : a definitive list of the Greatest Albums of All-Time. This is 100% my own personal super biased, incredibly subjective review of what my top 1,000 albums are, ranked in painstaking order over the course of doing research for nearly a year, Rob from High Fidelity style. Find out more about why I embarked on a best 1,000 albums ever project .

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What is a "riverboat gambler?"

• Thread starter napoleon
• Start date Jan 14, 2007

EOG Veteran

• Jan 14, 2007

This may be a question with an obvious answer, but does anyone know what a professional riverboat gambler is? :+clueless  

Re: What is a "riverboat gambler?" I'm going to go out on a limb here and say it is someone who gamble's professionally on a riverboat. :finger004:cheers  

Re: What is a "riverboat gambler?" Are you sure it isn't slang for anything?  

Re: What is a "riverboat gambler?" I think it refers to one that is willing to take risky chances. If you cheated on the ol riverboats then you had to walk the plank or get thrown overboard.  

Re: What is a "riverboat gambler?" So a riverboat gambler could be a card cheat? Like a kind of magician?  

Re: What is a "riverboat gambler?" A card cheat is taking chances not sure I would call a magician a riverboat gambler but a card cheat is one for sure.  

Re: What is a "riverboat gambler?" I have been doing some reading on it since you posted it... The Term comes From Naturally the people on the Mississippi River during the early 1800's until the Goldrush of 1849. When the Old West started settling then the Pro Gamblers on the Riverboat Casinos and on the Towns would get together and have fixed games to take the Travelers Money. It got so bad that it cast a Bad image and long shadow over Gamblers and Casinos in General. So any shady Character after that was Called a "Riverboat" Gambler if people thought they were a dishonest Gambler or person. There is a good story about James Bowie: It was during these riverboat gambling heydays that an interesting story occurred in 1832. On a Mississippi steamboat four men were playing poker , three of which were professional gamblers, and the fourth, a hapless traveler from Natchez. Soon, the young na?ve man had lost all his money to the rigged game. Devastated, the Natchez man planned to throw himself into the river; however, an observer prevented his suicide attempt, and then joined the card game with the “sharps.” In the middle of a high stakes hand, the stranger caught one of the professionals cheating and pulled a knife on the gambler, yelling, “Show your hand! If it contains more than five cards I shall kill you!” When he twisted the cheater’s wrist, six cards fell to the table. Immediately, the stranger took the $70,000 pot, returning $50,000 to the Natchez man and keeping $20,000 for his trouble. Shocked, the Natchez man stuttered, “Who the devil are you, anyway?” to which the stranger responded, “I am James Bowie.” Anxious citizens of these river port towns grew more and more wary of the confidence men that were multiplying so quickly. In Vicksburg, Mississippi, the citizens rage had become so increased by 1835, five cardsharps were lynched by a vigilante group. It was soon after this that many of the gamblers moved onto the riverboats, benefiting from the transient riverboat lifestyle. The History of Poker in the Old West  

EOG Dedicated

The general, another day, another dollar.

Re: What is a "riverboat gambler?" Most of my family as they are addicted to the riverboats. I have yet to step foot on a riverboat to gamble.  

Re: What is a "riverboat gambler?" Great find Dirty! That definitely answers my question. See you in a few days!  

Re: What is a "riverboat gambler?" Can't wait Man....4 Days and Counting :houra:houra:houra  

Re: What is a "riverboat gambler?" Wish I was going.  

vinividivinci

Eog addicted.

• Jan 15, 2007

Re: What is a "riverboat gambler?" Dirty Wonder if James was related to David Bowie? VVV  

Re: What is a "riverboat gambler?" LMAO...I don't know....but I have wondered if he was related to Jim Bowie of The Alamo Fame  

How deep is the Genesee River? Key facts about the river that runs through upstate NY

The Genesee River flows into Lake Ontario. The Haudenosaunee named the river "Ge-ne-see," meaning "pleasant banks." Historically, the river was a boundary between the Seneca lands to the east and the Erie and Wenro territories to the west. In the 19th century, it powered the mills of the Rochester area and continued to generate hydroelectric power for downtown Rochester.

During the 16th century the river was a lifeline for the Iroquois people who lived in the Rochester region until the city became established on its high falls.

Here's what else you should know about this historic body of water.

More: Genesee River's iconic waterfalls finally named on U.S. geographic maps

How deep is the Genesee River?

The depth of the Genesee River varies significantly along its course:

• Mouth : At the river's mouth, 157 miles downstream from its source in Ulysses, Pennsylvania, the Genesee River reaches a depth of 27 feet.
• Rochester : Near Rochester, the river is 21 feet deep.
• Letchworth State Park : In the 17-mile stretch through Letchworth State Park, the river flows through a gorge that can reach depths of up to 600 feet, earning this area the nickname "Grand Canyon of the East."

What states does the Genesee River pass through?

From a hill in Potter County, Pennsylvania, to Lake Ontario in New York, the Genesee River flows 160 miles north through various rural and urban communities in two states.

How fast is the water in the Genesee River?

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the river's current flow rate is 767 cubic feet per second.

How big is the Genesee River Basin?

The Genesee River basin has 2,373 square miles of land within New York state, according to the state Department of Environmental Conservation.

Can you swim in the Genesee River?

Yes, however, swimmers should check for designated swimming areas and the water conditions beforehand.

Is the Genesee River important to wildlife?

The Genesee River supports a variety of wildlife, including wild turkeys, white-tailed deer, black bears, wood ducks and more.

More: Sam Patch, Riverie prepare to cruise Rochester waterways once again

Genae Shields is the business & development impact reporter. Reach out at [email protected] or on Instagram: @genaebriphoto for questions, comments, or concerns. Thank you for your continued support!