# you just pays your money and takes your chance (colloquial) what will happen is a matter of chance or luck. A variation of the phrase you pays your money and you takes your choice, suggesting that when faced with a choice between two similar possibilities or alternatives, one might just as well rely on luck. The phrase comes from a rhyme used by English traders with market stalls: "Whatever you please my little dears; You pays your money and you takes your choice. You pays your money and what you sees is A cow or a donkey just as you pleases."