Gambling songs run through country and bluegrass — the rambling man with the deck of cards, the broke gambler, the horse player. “Roving Gambler” goes back to the 19th century. “Don’t Let Your Deal Go Down” is a bluegrass standard. “Lost Highway” is Hank Williams’s portrait of a man whose road through life ran through the wrong rooms. “Kentucky Gambler” came from country into bluegrass via Merle Haggard. Twenty songs about cards, dice, horses, and the people who can’t stop.

Each song’s page on Picker’s Guide has chord charts, lyrics, recordings, and song history.