what "ups the ante" means ?

Answer 1

make the stakes higher (as in a bet)

Answer 2

Makes it a more important matter.

The phrase comes from gambling, where an ante was a bid in poker. Upping the ante meant to gamble for a larger amount of money, meaning the hand was more important to the players than it was before. Today the phrase is used as a metaphor whenever something becomes more important. For instance by developing nuclear weapons, North Korea is upping the ante in international relations.

Answer 3

it's a poker term. Card game, jacks and deuces wild, gambling....I'm sure youknow what I'm talking about.

At the beginning of the hand everyone "ante's" up in the pot. At some point in the go around, someone calls to "up the ante" basically saying I have a good hand and I'm betting more money that I'll win. If you can hack it, throw your money in and let's see who the winner is.

Basically it means a slick smile and an arrogant nod, meeting someone else's bet and making the stakes of the game higher.

Answer 4

Increases the stakes, i.e. puts him/herself into a situation of greater risk, but hopefully also greater potential reward.

It's a direct borrowing from the game of poker, where "ante" is the initial bet.

Answer 5

Raise the level of something..like in poker when you "up the ante" you're betting more

Answer 6

ante is the initial bet that everyone must put in, if you up the ante you raise the bet

Answer 7

You are raising the stakes, thus challenging the person to match your bet or to bail out.

Answer 8

It simply means to raise the level of difficulty, make it more challenging so to speak.

Answer 9

it means increase the stakes(bet)usually in poker