3. The Gambler Rule - "You gotta know when to hold 'em/ Know when to fold 'em/ Know when to walk away/ Know when to run."
I can not underestimate the crucial importance of knowing when to get the fuck out of Dodge. This rule applies to damn near everything, much like Rule 2. That Kenny Rogers is a sage man, imparting his wisdom to the people through unassuming country music and roasted chicken. Timing is such an important element in most things, and when your timing is off you know it...oh boy do you know it. Sometimes things get a little heavy and you need to know what aspect of The Gambler you will be. Say you are fighting with a significant other over something like which way the toilet paper should fall on the roll (I'm not even going to wade in to the over the top/down the wall quagmire, I'm not that political). Before The Gambler, you would duke it out and let it snowball into a 3 hour state of the union fight that somehow ended up being about someone you may/may not have flirted with at Starbucks. This is an unpleasant and entirely preventable situation. Now that you are aware of The Gambler, you will think "Perhaps this isn't worth no sex for a week, and I will shut the fuck up now." and this is a good thing. Freaking out about little things will send you to early grave. Now, knowing when to walk away and when to run is a life skill that should be taught from birth. I recall as a pre-teen being somewhat informed about this in a "say no to peer pressure" kind of way, but let's face it, most of us forgot all that stuff the second we walked through high school's doors. It is time to remember. We'll take a Rule 1 situation, you want someone who is crazy and against your better judgment you hop in anyway. So now that you have fucked a crazy, they are, true to form, being very fucking crazy. At this point you are in what I like to call a "Die Hard Situation", where not only do you need to run away but you'd better throw a grenade behind you and dive away from the exploding building. If you had walked away before the sex, well then you'd be a true student of The Gambler. It's all timing. It's not always easy to shut up or give up, but the right thing is rarely easy. Kenny speaks the truth, you should listen to him.
