The advice of the gambler, while describing a poker game, has given the narrator a ray of hope, a "winner" to live by.

With the advice, the young man "found an ace" that he can keep. This circles back to when the gambler introduces himself at the beginning, and said "I can see you're out of aces". Ace in this case is the advice. In the beginning, the young man was out of ace, or out of ideas or advice. The gambler game him some ideas, but the ideas do not pertain to a card game. The gambler gave the young man some ideas on how to live. The young man repeats the ideas in his head. Know what to do with opportunities. Some you keep, some you give up, and some you run from the danger. Don’t count the money, and look only at money when making decisions. Don't let money be your guide at making decisions. Look at money only after decisions are made.

Many believe that the gambler dies after "breaking even", and his "final words" are literally his last.

Still, he imparted his knowledge and wisdom to the narrator, who in turn, imparts it to us.

If gambler only breaks even, then obviously he cannot be a gambler. This again suggest the song is more than just about the card game. The gambler only broke even after all his hard work. But here, breaking even is considered a victory. Again, there is no coming out ahead in life. The best you can do is just to break even. Once you know how to master life, then you can at least break even. The gambler mastered the game of life by knowing that there is no coming out ahead. You do what is right, and make the right decision base on what card life dealt you. By doing that, you can break even.

The Gambler knows he is wiser and more experienced. He doesn’t need to listen to the narrator’s response because there’s nothing more he could learn from him. So once he has finished giving his advice, he turns away, crushes his cigarette and goes to sleep.

The mention of dying in your sleep reinforce the theme that the song is not about how to win a card game. Is talking about something deeper than a card game.
This is somewhat of a sobering statement. Unlike a card game, there is no winning in life, because ultimately, we all die. The only next best thing you can do besides winning is to die in your sleep. That way, you think you are winning when you die. You never know you lost because you died in your sleep. Relative to you, that is as good as winning if you think you are winning.

Every card dealt is either a loser card or a winning card. The choice of judging is left to the gambler.

The cards that life deals you are not always good. “Every hand’s a winner and every hand’s a loser” means there are opportunities that are winners, and just as well, there are opportunities that are losers. "Every gambler knows that the secret to survivin' is knowin' what to throw away and knowing what to keep." Life is a gamble, and every one are in a sense a gambler. Like cards, the secret in life is selecting the right opportunities.

A loaded metaphor that refers to material possessions, memories, grudges and pain.

The "what" can be who, when where and why.

Once one internalize the concept, he has "the ace" and can move forward.

Moral of a gambler: "Never count your chickens before they hatch."

"Sittin' at the table" is where decisions are made. Card are dealt, and you have a decision to make. In the game of life, sitting at the table is where life takes different courses. Life presents you with different cards, and you have to make a decision on what to do. "You never count your money" because counting money will distract you, and keep you from making the right decision. In another word, don’t only look at money when making life decisions. It will steer you wrong. This goes back to his first statement that "if you’re gonna play the game, boy, you gotta learn to play it right". You have to make life decision base on what is right. That is what is right thing to do, right for you or maybe family. Don’t just count the money.
"You got to know when to hold'em". When there are good opportunities, hold on to them. When opportunities don’t play out, "Know when to fold'em". It could be a dead end job that you spent years at, and got nowhere. Know when to fold. "Know when to run" because there are situations where opportunities are very appealing, but in the end will result in a wreck. Run far away from them because they are dangerous.

Here the playing it right can apply to card games. You have to play it right to win. But the gambler is also thinking of playing the game of life. Life is a gamble also, and you got to play it right. Right in case is doing the right thing.

I will give you some advice in exchange for a tot of whisky.

The gambler hooks the young man with promise of some secrets to winning a card game. However, the advice he finally gave, although sounds like a card game really has nothing to do with cards. There was no technical advice on how to win. At least nothing of practical value. The gambler is giving the young man his perspective on a bigger more important game. The gambler looks at life like a game, and his advice is on life. The need for some whiskey was not a bribe, but rather an escape for him to open up on a personal level.

A metaphor for poor luck, or running out of options.

The gambler takes himself to be the more senior and experienced person talking to a younger person giving him advice. In that context, out of aces means the younger person is out of ideas or solutions.

“Face Reading” is a art that few gamblers have truly perfected.

Face reading is an art or science that is as ancient as humanity.

A chance encounter with a stranger on a train changed the narrator's life.

"The gambler", like Rogers himself, is tired from life's games and gambles. They both pass time staring out of the window….

The setting for the song is "a train bound for nowhere" - a metaphor for his life's direction at that moment.

The song revolves around the word Hallelujah, which is a Hebrew word which means praise Yah/Jah or the Lord. And through the song, he says that all Hallelujahs are of equal value no matter the circumstance or the cause of the act. Weather it is in complete blissful faith or is from broken desperation, all ways and goals to prise the lord mean the same and are all equal.

This is an obvious reference to sexuality and that even through an act as disgraceful as sex you can still praise the lord. In this verse the hallelujah can be interpreted as an “orgasmic” one.

In this part Cohen talks about the ambivalence of love and its effect on your faith. It can be glorious like a flag on a marble arch or it can be cold and broken. And when in heart break you may lose or strengthen your faith, in this case it is strengthened because he still praises the lord in the end. In this case, the hallelujah is (obviously) cold and broken.

In this part Cohen relates to the story of David and Bathsheba when David was walking on the roofs he saw her bathing and seduced her ending up committing adultery and lost a lot of influence and weakened his link with god (broken throne). Then we move to the story of Samson who gets his hair cut and loses all his powers, once again, a broken throne. In this verse, the hallelujah is a very sad and desperate one.

This relates to the story of King David who was had an intimate relation with god and was also a great harp player (secret cord/pleased the lord). The hallelujah at the end of this verse is a happy and spiritual one.