Gambling quotes can help us learn, make us laugh and teach us how to reflect on winning or losing.
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Quick answer: two of the most famous gambling quotes are Mark Twain’s “There are two times in a man’s life when he should not speculate: when he can’t afford it, and when he can” (1897) and George Washington’s warning that gaming “is the child of avarice, the brother of iniquity, and the father of mischief” (1783). Many popular gambling quotes are credited to the wrong person, so we checked who really said each one below.
Gambling has inspired some of the sharpest one-liners ever written, from presidents and poets to poker legends and Hollywood scripts. The problem is that the internet is full of gambling quotes credited to the wrong person, or to people who never said them at all. So for this collection we checked who actually said each quote and where it comes from, and we’ve added a section on the most common misattributions. You’ll find gambler quotes, casino quotes and betting sayings below, grouped by where they come from. For the real fortunes behind the sayings, read about the richest professional gamblers.
Classic gambling quotes from history and literature
- “[Gaming] is the child of avarice, the brother of iniquity, and the father of mischief.”
— George Washington. From his letter of 15 January 1783 to his nephew Bushrod Washington. His own spelling reads “the child of Avarice—the brother of inequity—& father of Mischief”. - “There are two times in a man’s life when he should not speculate: when he can’t afford it, and when he can.”
— Mark Twain. From “Pudd’nhead Wilson’s New Calendar” at the head of chapter 56 of Following the Equator (1897) - “Trust everybody, but cut the cards.”
— Finley Peter Dunne. Said by his character Mr. Dooley in Mr. Dooley’s Philosophy (1900), in Irish dialect as “Thrust ivrybody—but cut th’ ca-ards” - “Poker, n. A game said to be played with cards for some purpose to this lexicographer unknown.”
— Ambrose Bierce. The Devil’s Dictionary (1911) - “The dice of Zeus always fall luckily.”
— Sophocles. From a surviving fragment of the ancient Greek playwright’s lost plays; translations vary - “True luck consists not in holding the best of the cards at the table; luckiest he who knows just when to rise and go home.”
— John Hay. From “Distichs” in the American poet and statesman’s Poems - “Shallow men believe in luck… Strong men believe in cause and effect.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson. From the essay “Worship” in The Conduct of Life (1860) - “All life is six to five against.”
— Damon Runyon. The New York writer of gamblers and racetrack characters - “If you must play, decide upon three things at the start: the rules of the game, the stakes, and the quitting time.”
— Often called a Chinese proverb. We found no early source for it, so treat the origin as unknown
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Gambling quotes from poker players and professional gamblers
- “A man with money is no match against a man on a mission.”
— Attributed to Doyle Brunson. Card Player describes it as a line the two-time World Series of Poker Main Event champion liked to say - “As is so often the case while playing no-limit hold’em, you endure hours of boredom and face moments of terror.”
— Tom McEvoy. The 1983 WSOP Main Event champion, writing in Card Player in 2006. The shorter “hours of boredom followed by moments of sheer terror” is an older saying - “The guy who invented gambling was bright, but the guy who invented the chip was a genius.”
— Usually attributed to Julius “Big Julie” Weintraub. We found no first-hand source, and it also circulates with “poker” in place of “gambling” - “The next best thing to gambling and winning is gambling and losing.”
— Attributed to Nick “The Greek” Dandolos. Legendary high-stakes gambler; we found no first-hand source - “If it weren’t for luck, I’d win every one.”
— Phil Hellmuth. The record WSOP bracelet winner, as quoted in Card Player in 2006 - “In the beginning, everything was even money.”
— Attributed to Mike Caro. Poker author and theorist; we found no first-hand source
Gambling quotes from films and novels
- “Money won is twice as sweet as money earned.”
— Fast Eddie Felson (Paul Newman), The Color of Money (1986) - “If you can’t spot the sucker in your first half hour at the table, then you are the sucker.”
— Mike McDermott (Matt Damon), Rounders (1998) - “Gets down to what it’s all about, doesn’t it? Making the wrong move at the right time.”
— Lancey Howard (Edward G. Robinson), The Cincinnati Kid (1965) - “He simply maintained that the more effort and ingenuity you put into gambling, the more you took out.”
— Ian Fleming. On James Bond, in Casino Royale (1953), chapter 7, “Rouge et Noir” - “Buy the ticket, take the ride.”
— Hunter S. Thompson. A line the Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas author was fond of using - “You play, you win, you play, you lose. You play.”
— Jeanette Winterson. The Passion (1987)
Funny gambling quotes and casino sayings
- “Horse sense is the thing a horse has which keeps it from betting on people.”
— Commonly attributed to W.C. Fields. The earliest version we found ran in Reader’s Digest in 1942, and in 1943 it was credited to comedian Phil Baker, so Fields probably didn’t coin it - “Luck… is a mighty queer thing. All you know about it for certain is that it’s bound to change.”
— Bret Harte. Said by the gambler John Oakhurst in “The Outcasts of Poker Flat” (1869). The shorter “The only sure thing about luck is that it will change” is often credited to Wilson Mizner - “The gambling known as business looks with austere disfavor upon the business known as gambling.”
— Attributed to Ambrose Bierce - “The house always wins.”
— Casino saying. Funny because it’s true: every casino game has a built-in house edge
Famous gambling quotes that are often misattributed
These lines appear on almost every quotes list, but the credited author is doubtful or wrong:
| Quote | Usually credited to | What we found |
|---|---|---|
| “You cannot beat a roulette table unless you steal money from it.” | Albert Einstein | No reliable source shows Einstein said or wrote this. It traces back to a 1968 newspaper series and book about the gambler Nick the Greek. |
| “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.” | Seneca | No source ties it to Seneca. An early version appeared in Youth’s Companion in 1912, and the Seneca credit only shows up from 1999. |
| “The only sure thing about luck is that it will change.” | Wilson Mizner | Bret Harte wrote the original line in “The Outcasts of Poker Flat” (1869). |
| “Horse sense is the thing a horse has which keeps it from betting on people.” | W.C. Fields | It was in print by 1942 (Reader’s Digest) and credited to comedian Phil Baker in 1943. No source ties it to Fields. |
What does “six to five against” really mean?
Damon Runyon’s line is a betting price. Odds of 6 to 5 against mean that, over time, you lose 6 times for every 5 times you win. That is a 5 in 11 chance of winning, or about 45.5%. So his joke is that life is a slightly unfair bet: close to a coin flip, but always tilted the wrong way.
“The house always wins” works the same way in numbers. On single-zero roulette there are 37 pockets, so a straight-up bet wins 1 time in 37 but pays only 35 to 1. That leaves the casino about 2.7% of every bet (1 ÷ 37). If you bet $10 a spin for 100 spins, you put $1,000 through the table and should expect to lose about $27 on average. You can win on any one night, but the more you play, the closer your results get to that figure. Our gambling budget calculator works this out for your own stakes.
What can gambling quotes teach you about life?
- Know when to stop. Washington, John Hay and the proverb about quitting time all make the same point: set your limits before you play.
- The odds are the odds. Damon Runyon’s “six to five against” and “the house always wins” are reminders that every casino game has a built-in house edge.
- Skill matters in some games. The poker players on this list made their names in a game where decisions matter. Most casino games, like slots and roulette, are pure chance.
- Play for fun. Gambling should be entertainment, paid for with money you can afford to lose.
Want to see how the world’s most successful gamblers made their fortunes? Read our guide to the richest gamblers in the world. For the maths behind the house edge, see our guides to roulette and Sic Bo, or brush up on your gambling terms.
How we checked this
- Washington’s letter of 15 January 1783: Founders Online (US National Archives) and Mount Vernon.
- Twain’s maxim in Following the Equator, chapter 56: Project Gutenberg and Twain’s Geography.
- Dunne’s “cut the cards” (1900): Quote Investigator and Wikiquote.
- Bierce’s poker definition and Hay’s couplet, from the original texts: The Devil’s Dictionary (Standard Ebooks) and John Hay’s Poems (Project Gutenberg).
- Sophocles and Emerson: Wikiquote and the Suda On Line; Emerson Central and Wikiquote.
- Runyon’s “six to five against”: Princeton Alumni Weekly and Salon.
- Film and novel lines: Wikiquote (The Color of Money), Roger Ebert (Rounders), PokerNews (The Cincinnati Kid) and The New York Review of Books (The Passion).
- Harte’s luck line: The Outcasts of Poker Flat (Project Gutenberg) and PokerNews.
- Misattributions: Quote Investigator (Einstein), Barry Popik (Seneca), and Barry Popik and The Phrase Finder (W.C. Fields).
- Poker players’ own words: Card Player articles by Tom McEvoy and on Phil Hellmuth.
Last checked: 12 October 2026, when we worked out the odds behind “six to five against” and the roulette example ourselves (5 ÷ 11, and 1 ÷ 37 for single-zero roulette). The quote sources above were last checked on 7 October 2026. Quotes marked “attributed” have no first-hand source we could find, so treat the credit as uncertain.
Gambling quotes FAQs
What is the most famous gambling quote?
“Trust everybody, but cut the cards” (Finley Peter Dunne) and “The house always wins” are among the best known, along with George Washington’s warning that gaming is “the child of avarice”.
What did George Washington say about gambling?
In a 1783 letter to his nephew Bushrod, Washington called gaming “the child of avarice, the brother of iniquity, and the father of mischief”. He enjoyed cards himself but warned against gambling’s risks.
Did Einstein really say you can’t beat roulette?
There is no reliable evidence that he did. No letter, book or recorded interview of his contains it.
What are some inspirational gambling quotes about life?
Mark Twain’s “two times in a man’s life when he should not speculate”, John Hay’s line that true luck is knowing “just when to rise and go home” and Emerson’s “Shallow men believe in luck… Strong men believe in cause and effect” all treat gambling as a lesson about risk and self-control.
What is a good quote about knowing when to quit?
John Hay’s “luckiest he who knows just when to rise and go home” and the so-called Chinese proverb about deciding “the quitting time” before you start are both classics.
What does “six to five against” mean?
It means you lose 6 times for every 5 wins over time, a 5 in 11 (about 45.5%) chance of winning. Damon Runyon used it to say life is a slightly losing bet.
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