chest one's cards

Definitions

1. To hold one's hand close to one's chest so that other players cannot see the cards.
2. To be careful and reticent about sharing information about one's resources and intentions.
   broadly, figuratively

Examples

“Another hand was dealt. Skookum chested his cards, looked down into them with one bright eye. The game went on.”

“The request⟳, "Chest your cards, please⟳," or an equivalent, should be obeyed promptly.”

“Mark⟳ also loved to gamble, and wanted nothing more than to elope to Vegas. I did not. He found someone who did. There was one other thing I learned — I learned to chest my cards, because I was famous for flashing.”

“As is now obvious, the element that is different from other discovery techniques discussed above is that the defendant is actually at risk⟳: if it continues "chesting its cards," it may pay⟳ the price of being found liable, at least in part.”

“The hardball line tells you to chest your cards (and maybe slip⟳ a couple up your sleeve).”

“So their response to the “chest your cards” strategy is to ask⟳ even more questions, which, given an uninformed and suspicious board⟳, may lead⟳ to even greater meddling.”

CEFR level