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Need to up the ante

Posted by Smokey Stover on January 03, 2007

In Reply to: Need to up the ante posted by Andrew on January 02, 2007

: What does this saying mean..." need to up the ante


When you play poker, you "ante up" by placing some money (sometimes very little) into the "pot,' the center of the table, also called the "kitty." As the game progresses, more money is added to the pot. But if the amounts are very small, the players may not take the game seriously. If you "up the ante," raise the amount of money required to play, you both weed out the casual players and make it worthwhile for more serious players to get into the game because the pot will be so much more valuable. When you up the ante, you make the stakes higher; you make sure there's something serious at stake. (Look up stake.)
SS

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