table stakes
noun1
Card games, Poker A rule whereby players are only allowed to bet the money they have on the table.
2
Business, Government, Politics Figuratively The stake that a stakeholder must put up even just to earn a place at the table (a chance to compete), let alone ensure a win.
- So what makes people want to 'listen' to a brand? Sounding like a human, ugh; that's table stakes. If that's all you can say about your social approach, you're not trying hard enough.2016, Geoffrey Colon, Disruptive Marketing: What Growth Hackers, Data Punks, and Other Hybrid Thinkers Can Teach Us About Navigating the New Normal, →ISBN, page 143:
3
Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see table, stakes.
- Related terms
- penny ante