另外一個來自玩撲克牌游戲的詞匯是：The cards are stacked against you。The cards are stacked against you。這句話是說，你處于很不利的情況下，成功的機會很少。下面的例子是說一個人受了騙:
1 ): "Last night I got into a poker game with these men I met in the hotel bar. And I lost a thousand dollars before I realized the cards were stacked against me. All I could do was pick up the money I had left and walk away."
這人說：“昨晚上，我和幾個在旅館酒吧間里碰到的人一起玩撲克游戲。直到我輸了一千多美元后，我才忽然省悟到我想要贏他們恐怕是不可能的。我只好拿起剩下的錢就走了。”
下面我們要舉的一個例子是說，有的時候形勢就是對你不利，但是毫無辦法。
2) : "I really wanted to try out for the basketball team when I was in college. But the cards were stacked against me: I'm only five feet six inches tall and everybody else was six-two or even taller."
這個人說：“當我上大學的時候，我真想參加籃球隊。可是，那不可能，因為我身高只有一米六多，而其他人都至少有一米八。”