"Then why don't we play for smaller stakes, to begin with?"

Your friend did not win and so lost his small stake.

He is also said to hold a small stake in Pennzoil.

Well I should put a small stake or something in.

You know a small stake, stick or of some sort.

You may want to sell the entire business or keep a small stake in it.

Controlling a school board might seem like small stakes in the political world.

People who own small stakes usually have little control over how a business is operated.

He was sitting now, tightly bound with his hands behind him around a small stake.

"Care to play for a small stake, just to make it interesting?"