"heads I win, tails you lose" meaning in English

{
  "etymology_text": "A slight twist on the normal convention when flipping a coin, which is heads I win, tails you win. The flurry of antonymic reversals — heads or tails, you or me, win or lose — sounds euphonious and might seem fair when first analyzing it, which makes the phrase suitable for a fast-talking confidence trick except to the extent that it has become hackneyed and synonymous with rigged arrangements.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "phrase"
      },
      "expansion": "heads I win, tails you lose",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "phrase",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1790, Sir David Dalrymple, The Little Freeholder, a Dramatic Entertainment, in Two Acts, page 31:",
          "text": "I suppose it is just as if he had said to me, \"Heads I win, tails you lose.\" I thought that it was against law; but this man, Lord they call him, quieted me with his reciprocity.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1922, Jim Tully, Emmett Lawler, page 163:",
          "text": "I'll flip a coin, heads I win, tails you lose—and the loser must tell a story",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2011, Christopher Hitchens, Arguably: Selected Essays, page 14:",
          "text": "So here was an early instance of the \"heads I win, tails you lose\" dilemma, in which the United States is faced with corrupt regimes, on the one hand, and Islamic militants, on the other—or indeed a collusion between them.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Said to describe a conflict in which someone has a particular advantage from the start."
      ],
      "id": "en-heads_I_win,_tails_you_lose-en-phrase-HNV8K17N",
      "links": [
        [
          "conflict",
          "conflict#English"
        ],
        [
          "advantage",
          "advantage#English"
        ],
        [
          "from the start",
          "from the start#English"
        ]
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "lose-lose"
        },
        {
          "word": "moral hazard"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "heads I win, tails you lose"
}

{
  "etymology_text": "A slight twist on the normal convention when flipping a coin, which is heads I win, tails you win. The flurry of antonymic reversals — heads or tails, you or me, win or lose — sounds euphonious and might seem fair when first analyzing it, which makes the phrase suitable for a fast-talking confidence trick except to the extent that it has become hackneyed and synonymous with rigged arrangements.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "phrase"
      },
      "expansion": "heads I win, tails you lose",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "phrase",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "lose-lose"
    },
    {
      "word": "moral hazard"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English phrases",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "Pages with 1 entry",
        "Pages with entries",
        "Quotation templates to be cleaned"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1790, Sir David Dalrymple, The Little Freeholder, a Dramatic Entertainment, in Two Acts, page 31:",
          "text": "I suppose it is just as if he had said to me, \"Heads I win, tails you lose.\" I thought that it was against law; but this man, Lord they call him, quieted me with his reciprocity.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1922, Jim Tully, Emmett Lawler, page 163:",
          "text": "I'll flip a coin, heads I win, tails you lose—and the loser must tell a story",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2011, Christopher Hitchens, Arguably: Selected Essays, page 14:",
          "text": "So here was an early instance of the \"heads I win, tails you lose\" dilemma, in which the United States is faced with corrupt regimes, on the one hand, and Islamic militants, on the other—or indeed a collusion between them.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Said to describe a conflict in which someone has a particular advantage from the start."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "conflict",
          "conflict#English"
        ],
        [
          "advantage",
          "advantage#English"
        ],
        [
          "from the start",
          "from the start#English"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "heads I win, tails you lose"
}