I wanted more from life, than four kids and a wife   And a job in a dark Kentucky mine.   A twenty acre farm, with a shackey house and barn   Thats all I had and all I left behind      But at gambling, I was lucky, and so I left Kentucky   And left behind my woman and my kids   Into the gay casinos, of Nevada's town of Reno   This Kentucky Gambler planned to get rich quick       Kentucky gambler who's going to love your woman in Kentucky   Yeah - and who's going to be the one to give her all she needs   Kentucky gambler, who's going to raise your children in Kentucky   And who's going to keep them fed and keep them shoes on their feet      There at the gambler's Paradise, Lady luck was on my side   and this Kentucky gambler played just right   Yeah I won at everything I played - I really thought I had it made   But I should have quit and gone on home that night      But when you love the green backed dollar, sorrow always bound to follow   and Reno's dreams fade into neon amber   And Lady Luck, she'll lead you on   She'll stay a while, and then she's gone   You better go on home, Kentucky gambler      But a gambler never seems to stop, till he loses all he's got   and with a money - hungry fever, I played on   I played till I'd lost all I'd won, I was right back where I'd started from   Then I started wanting - to go home      Kentucky gambler, there ain't nobody, waiting in Kentucky   When I ran out, somebody else walked in   Kentucky gambler, looks like you ain't really very lucky   And it seems to me a gambler loses much more than he wins   much more than he wins.