Meaning:
Play to keep the winnings. Also, more generally, especially in America, `in
deadly earnest; in such a way that the result will stand'.
Background:
The game of marbles is older than recorded history - marbles have been found
in ancient Egyptian and Roman tombs. There is a version of the game that has
been in vogue since at least the mid 19th century which is called keepies or
for keeps. As the name suggests, whoever wins the game keeps all the marbles.
This is cited in an 1861 edition of the journal The Ladies' Repository:
"See, mother, what a lot of marbles I've got!" said John.
"I want you to make me a great big bag to put them in."
"Why, where did you get so many, my son?" asked his mother.
"I won them from Peter Jones. See I got his glass taw too. I loaned him one
of mine to play with while he put that in the ring. Isn't it pretty?"
"How much did you pay him for them?"
"Pay him! Nothing. He and I played for `keeps' and I was the best player
and won all his."
The US meaning of the term is recorded from almost the same date. In 1866,
Shanks' Personal Recollections included this:
"`Fighting for keeps' is army slang and signifies fighting in deadly
earnest."
- www.phrases.org.uk [edited]
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Winter time was slow time for the peasants on the Plain. Wheat, the staple crop,
had sprouted, basking in apricity and waiting for spring. There was not much to
do in the fields. Men and women gathered around mah-jong, a game of both luck
and skill. When stakes of small bills were added and people played for keeps,
things heated up and some spent days at a time at the table. Adults looked
sheepish when they finally came home and, win or lose, they were silent in front
of the kids, as if they had become children themselves and did something bad.
