play the market vs wager

play the market

wager

noun
  • Something deposited, laid, or hazarded on the event of a contest or an unsettled question; a bet; a stake; a pledge. 

  • An offer to make oath. 

  • A contract by which two parties or more agree that a certain sum of money, or other thing, shall be paid or delivered to one of them, on the happening or not happening of an uncertain event. 

  • That on which bets are laid; the subject of a bet. 

verb
  • To suppose; to dare say. 

  • To bet something; to put it up as collateral. 

How often have the words play the market and wager occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )