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play one's ace
If you have a high kicker you will save it for the right time and then conquer the pot. Same goes for your best kept secret weapons in business, love or sports. "We played our ace on that bidding and won the contract."
play one's cards close to one's chest
This is from the old days of poker when players held their cards in their hand, and had to make sure nobody saw what was in them. It has come to mean being secretive and generally reluctant to disclose information. "We tried to find out about the other bids, but the seller played his cards close to his chest and revealed nothing."
play one's cards right
Isn't that what poker and life are all about? You get dealt your hand, and you play it the best you can at the felt, in business and in love. "She played her cards right and eventually got that coveted bachelor to propose to her."
poker face
A poker face has lost some value in these days of online poker, but it still comes handy at the WSOP and when asking your boss for a big raise. "We all kept a poker face while mom asked us who crashed the car."
put (lay) one's cards on the table
A time comes when you have to come clean and show your cards, to be honest about your situation and what you want. "I need your help, so I will lay my cards on the table and explain the whole operation to you."
raise/up the ante/stakes
Everyone pays an ante to play certain poker varieties, and if you up the ante everyone has to pay more to play. This expression has come to mean two things with time: either a literal meaning of making everyone pay more, or a figurative one of escalating the stakes in a conflict. "The prosecutor upped the ante by taking the case to federal court."
rake it in
The happiest event for a poker player is to rake in those hard-won chips in, and this has become an expression for having financial success. "Bob is raking it in thanks to the sales of his new product."
read 'em and weep
A Phil Hellmuth favorite, this phrase is best said when you lay down the nuts in a showdown, or when you reveal you have a great advantage. "Read'em and weep, boys, she's going out with me tonight."
show one's hand
You only show your hand at the time of reckoning, when you finally have to reveal what you have been hiding all along. "I held off as long as possible, but eventually I had to show my hand and tell my wife about those investments I made."
showdown
Believe it or not, this expression has its origin in poker. Nowadays you have cooking showdowns, sports showdowns, even political showdowns, but it all started at the felt, when you and your opponent lay your cards down at last. "I can't wait to see the Jamie Oliver/Mario Batali cooking showdown."
shuffle the cards/deck
While you have to shuffle the cards very thoroughly before each game, outside of poker a shuffle is not necessarily desirable, especially when it means a change in policies or conditions. "The Human resources department shuffled the deck unexpectedly on the overtime policy."
the deck
This is a big no-no both at the poker table and away from it: stacking a deck to prearrange the results is unfair and cheating, regardless of where it happens. "The old manager stacked the deck against the new one, who couldn't implement any of his proposed policies."
under the table
Anything that takes place under the table at a poker game must be shady business indeed, and so it is in real life. "They paid him under the table so they wouldn't have to pay his social security or pension dues."
when the chips are down
We imagine this has to do with being all-in, when all your chips are down and your tournament life is at stake. This is the time of reckoning, when a player's worth really shows. "We did not think much of the new lawyer, but when the chips were down he really did a good job."
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