From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishwhen the chips are downwhen the chips are downspokenSERIOUS SITUATION in a serious or difficult situation, especially one in which you realize what is really true or important When the chips are down, you’ve only got yourself to depend on. → chip
Examples from the Corpus
when the chips are down• When the chips were down, you felt he could handle the situation.• As you know, when the chips are down Leslie Bence comes out fighting.• It is disappointing to find that, when the chips are down, your paper is no better than the rest.• The implication, they fear, is that when the chips are down it is only rational human beings that really matter. 