Cash in one's chips

"Looks like these grandees'll have to cash in their chips and quit, but it's a darned shame."

Yesterday the polo-playing executive cashed in his chips at Harrah's to take a post with even higher stakes, agreeing to become president and chief executive of Resorts International Inc.

"I am not going to stand by and watch this company bleed to death. If we can't make money, I will cash in my chips."

A tough old hombre, unregenerate to the last, cashed in his chips in Oklahoma City the other day.

So what are trained readers of spy novels supposed to believe when Michael cashes in his chips and two strangers arrive to remove his body from the premises?

Two years and one month ago I broke my neck in a car accident. I made it through but just barely. I came real close to cashing in my chips.