"Playin' Poker for a Livin'"
                (Radio Mix version)


Drinkin’! Pissin’! Smokin’! Gamblin’!
Playin’ Texas Hold’em all night . . . Yeah I’m
Holdin’! Foldin’! Muckin’ and a Bluffin’!
Just tryin’ to win some money tonight . . .
Well, I’m due to catch some cards soon,
And, then I’ll feel alright!

Well, I make my livin’ playin’ Texas Hold’em every day
But, I’ve been playin’ for nine hours, and I’ve yet to make my pay
I always try to play good, win most every other time
But then there’s times I just leave with a dollar and a dime
The dealers want their tips, and the house just wants their rake
But, all I want are decent cards and donkeys I can break
Oh yeah . . . Oh yeah . . .

Well, I just got dealt two aces so I raised before the flop
But six donkeys they all called me, and my pulse began to hop
The dealer flopped a rainbow, so I bet before the turn
Three donkeys still stayed in the pot, when will they ever learn
The river paired the dueces, and two donkeys went all in
So I mucked my pocket aces, ‘cause I knew I couldn’t win
And I’m back . . .

Drinkin’! Pissin’! Smokin’! Gamblin’!
Playin’ Texas Hold’em all night! I’m back
Holdin’! Foldin’! Muckin’ and a Bluffin’!
Just tryin’ to win some money tonight . . .

Well, I’m due to catch some cards soon,
And then I’ll feel alright . . .

Playin’ Poker for a Livin’. . . (yeah, yeah)
Playin’ Poker for a Livin’. . . (yeah, yeah)
Playin’ Poker for a Livin’. . . (yeah, yeah)
Playin’ Poker for a Livin’. . . (yeah, yeah)
Playin’ Poker for a Livin’, just tryin’ to win some money tonight!

(Instrumental)

Well, the donkeys they’re all laughin’ ‘cause they think I’ve gone on tilt
But I’ve had my share of bad beats, and that’s not the way I’m built
I know that if I’m patient that their chips will soon be mine
But, I raised the very next pot with a seven and a nine
The dealer flopped two sevens, and a nine came on the turn
And I won most of my money back, and watched those donkeys burn. Oh yeah . . . Oh yeah . . .

Well, I make my livin’ playin’ Texas Hold’em every day
But I’ve been playin for ten hours, and I’ve yet to make my pay
The porter brings me coffee, and the waitress brings me beer
‘cause I can’t quit ‘till I win enough, to get me outta here
I shouldn’t call ‘em donkeys, cause they really are my friends
And I’ll be back here tomorrow, and I’ll play ‘em all again
And we’ll be . . .

Drinkin”! Pissin’! Smokin”! Gamblin’!
Playin’ Texas Hold’em all night! We’ll be holdin’!
Foldin’! Muckin’ and a Bluffin’!
Just tryin’ to win some money tonight!
Well, I’m due to catch some cards soon,
And then I’ll feel alright!

Yeah, I’m due to catch some cards soon,
And then I’ll feel all right!!

Shuffle up and deal . . . 

Copyright © 2009 Jason Mershon

Glossary of Poker Terms

While most poker players are familiar with the all the terms used in this song, others may not understand all of them. Therefore, below is a glossary of these terms and their definitions.

MUCKIN'
Tossing one's cards face on the table face down (or face up) towards the pile of folded and unused cards. This tells the dealer that a player is folding.

"THE HOUSE"
The establishment or casino running the poker game.

RAKE
The amount of money taken out of every pot by the dealer. . .This part is the "HOUSE'S" income.

DONKEY
A "donkey" is considered an inferior and bad poker player, who makes blatantly bad poker plays or is just a weak player. Most professional poker players lightly consider most of their opponents as "donkeys" as they figure their own skill level of poker is much higher than those of the "donkeys". . . even though they hate to admit that they sometimes play like "donkeys" themselves!

POCKET OR "HOLE CARDS" (as in "pocket aces")
The unique two cards that are first dealt, face down, to players that only the player can see. They then use those two "pocket cards" with the "flop," "turn," and, "river" cards to make a five-card poker hand.

FLOP
The first three community cards, put face up, all together during a poker hand.

RAINBOW
A flop that contains three different suits (and non dangerous cards) where no flush or straights can be made on the "TURN"....(in the case of the song, a "rainbow flop" is a good board for pocket aces)..

TURN
The fourth community card card put face up by itself, after "the flop".

RIVER
The fifth, and final community card, put face up by itself.

TILT
To play wild and recklessly, usually after a "bad beat".

BAD BEAT
To have a poker hand that is a "huge underdog", beat a "heavilly favored" poker hand. It is usually used to imply that the winner of the pot had no business being in the pot at all, and it was the "wildest of luck" that he managed to catch the one or two cards in the deck, that would win the pot.

ADDITIONAL TERMS USED IN THE 6 MINUTE CASINO MIX

"SHOW TUNES GOIN' OFF IN THEIR HEADS. . . "
A "campy" catchphrase attributed to commentator Vince Van Patton on the television poker show "The World Poker Tour". The majority of poker players have sarcasticly "moaned" when ever Van Patton uses that phrase, as they feel they're not the types who would have "show tunes" going off in their heads!

PHIL HELLMUTH AND MIKE MATUSOW. . .
Two of poker's most famous (and notorious) professional poker players.

CRACKED (as in "Cracked your Aces")
To beat a big hand (typically 2 Aces) with an inferior hand..

"HE SAID HE CALLED ME WITH THOSE CARDS...BECAUSE THEY WERE 'SUITED' !"
Another common catchphrase that most "Donkeys" like to use whenever they give a "bad beat" to another player. They try to justify their "bad play" by using an excuse for playing "bad cards" such as, "I played these cards cause they were suited (2 Spades, Hearts, Diamonds or 'Clubs in the Hole'), no matter how bad the cards actually were! 

It's kind of become a running joke for bad play.