The music world also features several songs dedicated to casinos, gamblers and gambling. While gambling songs make up some of the greatest songs of all time, they are not as prominent or popular anymore. One of the reasons for this might be the rise in popularity of the online casinos. In the eyes of many, online casinos, have supplemented land-based casinos. It is true that playing the classic casino games, like Poker, BlackJack, even Roulette is made much easier by online casinos. For example, if you register at Novibet casino online, you will be able to experience all of the classic casino games, and more. However, it is also true that writing song about playing games on one’s computer is hardly as exciting as meeting mysterious gamblers on lonely trains. In this list we are going to look at some of the best gambling songs ever recorded.
Ray Charles – Losing Hand
Originally released on his self-titled LP, which was later re-released as Hallelujah, I Love Her So, the song Losing Hand is a soulful, passionate song about lost love. In the song, Ray Charles frames love as a gamble, and in his particular case, Ray drew a losing hand.
While the song itself is not about actual gambling, it does use gambling as a metaphor for love, with lyrics that directly compare love to a game of poker.
Frank Loesser – Luck be a Lady
Written by Frank Loesser and originally performed by Robert Alda, the song was written for the musical Guys and Dolls. The song is a plea from the main character of the film, Sky Masterson. A plea sang to Luck, in the song personified as a woman. Masterson is begging Luck to smile on him, and show him that she is a “lady”, by giving him what he wants (a winning game).
The song has been sung by several artists throughout the years, with the most popular iteration coming to us from the legend himself, Mister Frank Sinatra. Other artists that have covered the song include Marlon Brando, in the film adaptation of Guys and Dolls, Barbara Streisand, and Dee Snyder of Twisted Sister.
Don Schlitz – The Gambler
Without a doubt, the most popular song that deals with the topic of gamblers and gambling, the song simply titled The Gambler, written by Don Schlitz, and famously performed by Kenny Rogers is one of the most popular country songs, and one of the greatest songs ever written. It perfectly captures the atmosphere of a lonely train ride and the feelings of an old man who wants to pass down his knowledge before he smokes his final cigarette. Like Luck be a Lady, this song has also been covered a number of times, but no version comes even close to Kenny Rogers’.
Elvis Presley – Viva Las Vegas
To end the list is a song by the King of Rock’n’Roll himself. Viva Las Vegas does not deal with gambling or gamblers but is an ode to Las Vegas, the gambling capital of America, and the embodiment of the splendor and glamour associated with casinos.
