Green’s Dictionary of Slang

(orig. US) to commit oneself unreservedly, esp. in a gambling or betting context; also adj. use.

1953		E. Hemingway letter 23 Jan. in Baker Sel. Letters (1981) 798: Why not go for broke once again.
1967		P. Thomas Down These Mean Streets (1970) 216: Fuck it, we goin’ shit for broke.
1977		(con. 1960s) Nicholson & Smith Spend, Spend, Spend (1978) 146: I’ve got nothing so I might as well go for broke.
1989		M. Amis London Fields 23: Going for broke at the pinball table, Guy Clinch froze in mid-flail.
1999		Indep. Rev. 15 Oct. 1: Unless you want to go for broke and grab the [...] crystal-beaded baguette with the laughably throwaway price of £2,659.
2001		(con. 1975–6) E. Little Steel Toes 57: Nonstop, go for broke, pushing past any limits that make sense.
2009		T. Black Gutted 144: I’d been going for broke, but what he’d given me was enough.
2013		T. Peacock More You Bet 8: Someone might have ‘gone for broke,’ that is, taken a major risk in an attempt to achieve a goal.