The music industry has given rise to many memorable chart toppers, with a significant number of these being songs about gambling and casinos.
Music has always been the great uniter of people. Whether you prefer classic symphonies at the theatre, a jazzy dinner experience, or some wild dancefloor hits to rock the night away, there is bound to be a genre of music that is bound to impress you.
Therefore, it is not surprising that plenty of songs about gambling and dedicated to this pastime. Some of these are bouncy and uplifting, while others can appear more melancholic. Even so, you don’t have to be a gambler to enjoy these songs, which is why they have reached the top of the charts globally. Ultimately, you should appreciate these songs for what they are.
Of course, if you are a passionate gambler and enjoy spending some time at an online casino, you can listen to some of these songs to spur you on or simply as a soundtrack to your gambling session.
Here’s the list of some of the best songs about gambling that we recommend you add to your repertoire:
1. Luck Be a Lady (Frank Sinatra)
As is often the case, Frank Sinatra’s songs are sensual. “Luck Be a Lady” isn’t an outright gambling song, but it touches on some familiar topics. Sinatra croons about luck as a lady and asks her to go on a date with him. As life’s challenges mount, Sinatra requests his lady to “never get out of my sight.”
2. Viva Las Vegas (Elvis Presley)
They call him “the king”, and for a good reason. Elvis Presley is one of the most recognisable faces of the 60s music scene and has travelled to Las Vegas on more than one occasion. He even got married in Sin City, and it was only natural that he decided to put the Nevadan desert paradise on one of his most famous song titles.
“Viva Las Vegas” is one of the most famous songs about gambling, resonating through the decades and is still as appealing as ever. It doesn’t glorify Sin City for something it isn’t but goes down to the raw joy of having fun in Vegas, with nightlife, clubs, and pretty women all on Elvis’ mind.
3. Atlantic City (Bruce Springsteen)
This song is not clearly about gambling; however, you can pick the theme up from the undertones. Atlantic City is one of the most popular places in the US where people go to gamble. In Springsteen’s song, he speaks about a man who wishes to have a shot at happiness by going to Atlantic City.
4. Rambling, Gambling Willie (Bob Dylan)
“Rambling, Gambling Willie” is a tune Bob Dylan dedicated to the epitome of all gamblers. His protagonist is the greatest gambler of all time with a story to tell. Willie is all over the show, and he lives to gamble. “Wherever you are gamblin’ now, nobody really knows,” sings Dylan.
Our gambler is prepared to have a shot at pretty much anything. He sails down the Mississippi to New Orleans and tries his hand at the famous Jackson River Queen riverboat casino. He then swings by Cripple Creek, a popular gambling area, and keeps going, constantly spurred on by Dylan’s “roll, Willie, roll.”
5. Poker Face (Lady Gaga)
Scandalous, witty, and clever, Lady Gaga is one of the most unique singers of our time. She’s nippy with the lyrics, possesses a charmingly captivating personality, and her songs are top-notch. Is poker face one of the songs about gambling and the card game itself or an expression derived from poker? This remains for you to decide.
The song focuses more on the pacey beat that makes you swing around, with few allusions to gambling itself through lines like “luck and intuition plays the cards with spades to start.” Still, when Lady Gaga says “I wanna hold’em like they do in Texas,” she means toying with men who can’t determine what’s behind her poker face and magically feel drawn to her repeatedly.
