“If you stay at the table long enough, the chips come to you”

American actress Marilyn Cooper (1934-2009) made her Broadway debut in the chorus of Mr. Wonderful (1956); the following year, she was cast in West Side Story (1957). When Cooper won the Tony award for best featured musical actress for Woman of the Year, in 1981, she said:
 
“I’m a poker player and I believe that if you stay at the table long enough, you come up a winner.”
 
New York City-born actor Henry Winkler rose to fame playing “Fonzie” on the American television sitcom Happy Days (1974-1984). A story about Winkler was printed in the Daily Press (Newport News, VA) on October 30, 1983:
 
“‘There’s an expression in Hollywood that if you stay at the table long enough, eventually you will pile up some chips,’ he (Henry Winkler—ed.) says, referring to the time it’s taken him to get this aspect of his career going.”
 
Actually, if someone stays at the poker table long enough, that person usually loses. “They might get lucky once, but as in any form of gambling — and trading in the market is gambling — if you stay at the table long enough, you’re going to give it all back” was printed in Sylvia Porter’s Personal Finance in 1986. “If you stay at the table long enough you’re going to get fed” is another saying that was posted on Twitter on December 10, 2011.
 
Henry Winkler won his first Emmy award on September 17, 2018. The Hollywood Reporter printed:
 
“I only have 37 seconds. I wrote this 43 years ago,” Winkler began his acceptance speech. “Can I just say Skip Brittenham said to me a long time ago, ‘If you stay at the table long enough, the chips come to you,’ and tonight I got to clear the table.”
 
           
8 June 1981, The Globe and Mail (Toronto, ON), “British sweep the Tonys” (Reuter), pg. 17, col. 5:
Marilyn Cooper, who appears in only one scene in Woman of the Year, won the award for best featured musical actress. “I’m a poker player and I believe that if you stay at the table long enough, you come up a winner,” she said. Miss Cooper made her Broadway debut in West Side Story in 1957.
 
30 October 1983, Daily Press (Newport News, VA), “Henry Winkler” by Henry Edgar, pg. E3, col. 1:
“There’s an expression in Hollywood that if you stay at the table long enough, eventually you will pile up some chips,” he (Henry Winkler—ed.) says, referring to the time it’s taken him to get this aspect of his career going.
       
Google Books
Sylvia Porter’s Personal Finance
Volume 4, Issues 1-5
1986
Pg. 264:
They might get lucky once, but as in any form of gambling — and trading in the market is gambling — if you stay at the table long enough, you’re going to give it all back.
 
26 August 1989, Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN), “Twins’ front office has been on a long cold streak” by Patrick Reusse, pg. 1C:
As any gambler knows, if you stay at the table long enough, the dice will turn cold. It has happened to MacPhail. Tom Herr. Fred Toliver. Shane Rawley. Wally Backman. Snake eyes.
 
2 October 2006, The Oklahoman (Oklahoma City, OK), “What they’re saying,” pg. 21C, col. 5:
“If you stay at the table long enough, you’re going to be dealt some cards.”
33-year-old QB Damon Huard, after the Chiefs’ 41-0 win over the 49ers.
     
Google Books
The Quotable Actor:
1001 Pearls of Wisdom from Actors Talking About Acting
By Damon DiMarco
Santa Monica, CA: Santa Monica Press LLC
2009
Pg.?:
It’s really important to keep your eye on the prize. My lawyer once said to me, ‘If you sit at the table long enough, the chips will come to you.’”
HENRY WINKLER
 
Twitter
PoplockP 🇳🇬 ✊🏿
@IAMPoplockP
If you stay at the table long enough,
You will get fed
2:24 PM - 19 Sep 2011
   
Twitter
Ryan Fionda
@RyanFionda
If you stay at the table long enough you’re going to get fed
2:27 AM - 10 Dec 2011
     
9 June 2013, Spartanburg (SC) Herald-Journal, “Broadway producer Hugh Hayes finds his corner of the sky” by Dan Armonaitis, pg. ?:
“I haven’t hollered ‘uncle.’ ... It’s like, if you just stay at the poker table long enough, you’re going to get a winning hand eventually.”
(Spoken by Hugh Hayes.—ed.)
 
Twitter
Cassandra_Paige
@Cassandra0Paige
Replying to @Stonekettle
Dems got them to release 9 million hostages. In 20 days, if DACA isn’t at least significantly progressed, there’s no CR and not 9 million children in a bus hanging off a cliff. They’re so stupid, they think they’ve won. The House always wins if you stay at the table long enough.
1:35 PM - 22 Jan 2018
 
The Hollywood Reporter
Henry Winkler Wins First-Ever Emmy for ‘Barry’
5:25 PM PDT 9/17/2018 by Katherine Schaffstall
Henry Winkler won for his role as Gene Cousineau on ‘Barry.’
(...)
“I only have 37 seconds. I wrote this 43 years ago,” Winkler began his acceptance speech. “Can I just say Skip Brittenham said to me a long time ago, ‘If you stay at the table long enough, the chips come to you,’ and tonight I got to clear the table.”
   
Twitter
MB
@madback
“If you stay at the table long enough, the chips come to you. And tonight I got to clear the table.” @hwinkler4real #Emmys
8:16 PM - 17 Sep 2018
 
Twitter
NBCWashington
@nbcwashington
“If you stay at the table long enough, the chips come to you.” Henry Winkler won the first Primetime Emmy of his career, more than four decades after he was first nominated for his role as The Fonz in “Happy Days.”
11:20 PM - 17 Sep 2018