ante, n. — Green’s Dictionary of Slang

ante n.

[Lat. ante, before, in this case, before one plays or bets]

(orig. US) money in hand, cash.

[1847		J.H. Green Arts and Miseries of Gambling 70: They couldn’t get Mr. Consequence to bet more than a bit ‘ante’].
1874		J.H. Carter ‘The Unreconstructed’ in Log of Commodore Rollingpin 206: They had played a game of poker, which was quarter ante, straight.
1890		(con. 1860s) J.O. Kerbey On the War Path 250: The ante was $100 and there was no limit.
1897		E.W. Townsend Chimmie Fadden 74: Hortense has saved up dose sums, and dey make $65 more, which we adds t’ de ante.
1908		B. Fisher A. Mutt in Blackbeard Compilation (1977) 60: I positively refuse to send A. Mutt an invitation until he kicks in with his ante.
1922		P.A. Rollins Cowboy 80: ‘Ante’ might include any payment for any purpose.
1936		R. Chandler ‘Goldfish’ in Red Wind (1946) 173: My ante is in.
1946		R. Brister ‘Fake It Easy’ in Mammoth Mystery June 🌐 Now I’ll have to pull off one more job to make the day’s ante.
1951		Cusack & James Come in Spinner (1960) 386: If he turns me out like that I’ll be happy to cough up the ante without squealing.

In phrases

up the ante (v.) (also boost the ante, double..., raise..., whoop...) [poker imagery]

(orig. US) lit. and fig., to increase the amount, to demand a higher price.

1896		J.F. Lillard Poker Stories 195: I raise the ante £100.
1908		‘O. Henry’ ‘From Each According to his Ability’ in Voice of the City (1915) 223: ‘Double the ante!’ cried the criticised one, greedily. ‘Give me more of it.’.
1917		F. Packard Adventures of Jimmie Dale (1918) I iv: About fifteen thousand. I guess she ain’t got any more than that, or I’d have raised the ante.
1922		S. Lewis Babbitt (1974) 42: If I was fool enough never to whoop the ante I’d get the credit for lying anyway!
1929		W.R. Burnett Little Caesar (1932) 222: Raised the ante, did they? Last I heard it was five grand.
1933		J.T. Farrell ‘Wedding Bells Will Ring’ in Short Stories (1937) 205: Is there any reason why you’re trying to raise the ante?
1940		R. Chandler Farewell, My Lovely (1949) 219: Blane would drop around and raise the ante on him.
1945		R.L. Bellem ‘Poison Payoff’ Hollywood Detective Dec. 🌐 ‘So you won’t take a thousand dollars to forget the whole thing?’ [...] ‘Boosting the ante, eh? Sorry, toots. You threw snake-eyes.’.
1951		D. Stivens Jimmy Brockett 17: That two hundred quid was running me pretty short and here he was trying to get me to raise the ante.
1957		J. Thompson ‘The Frightening Frammis’ in Fireworks (1988) 115: So he upped the ante to two grand [...] and things really tightened up.
1965		J.P. Carstairs Concrete Kimono 65: ‘You really won’t go back — not even if we raised the ante?’ ‘What, more mazuma?’.
1967		E. Shepard Doom Pussy 162: They’ve upped the ante on you and Smash. The VC’s price on your butts is now a hundred thousand p’s apiece.
1974		‘P.B. Yuill’ Hazell Plays Solomon (1976) 138: You trying to raise the ante? For Christ’s sake, name the price.
1976		N. Thornburg Cutter and Bone (2001) 305: Old Humperdinck, he don’t just pay the price, he ups the ante. He can’t wait to pay.
1985		J. Sullivan ‘Watching the Girls go by’ Only Fools and Horses [TV script] Well why did you keep upping the ante?
1986		F. Taylor Auf Wiedersehen Pet Two 93: If your mood’s going to affect your game, we’ll double the ante.
1999		Observer Screen 11 July 6: Hollywood is upping the ante, if not changing tack all together.
2000		Indep. Rev. 13 Jan. 1: I see from your note that you’ve upped the ante.
2004		L. Redhead Peepshow [ebook] Everyone was nuding up [...] Bucks’ parties had to up the ante, and strippers worked ‘hot’ — vibe shows and lesbian doubles.
2010		A. Steinberg Running the Books 56: Finally I decided to up the ante [...] I asked them to read a short story.
2013		K. Sampson Killing Pool 139: The moment I step out of the front door is the cue for the downpour to up the ante.
2021		Breen & Conlon Hitmen 96: [in fig. use] Alan Ryan decided to up the ante.