A word that means suffering great loss if failed but highly profitable if successful?

This is a task that'll bring you back a great profit if successful but may also end you up with heavy loss even your life. I have been thinking whether there is one word or a phrase or some self invented compound word to substitute for the long attributive clause.

I have found a sentence:

The cave that you fear to enter holds the treasure that you seek.

So how about : This is a treasure-holding-but-you-fear-to-enter-cave task ??

Solution 1:

As one commenter noted:

high-risk, maybe combined with high-reward

Therefore, I am surprised that no one has mentioned "high-stakes". From e.g. here:

a situation that has a lot of risk and in which someone is likely to either get or lose an advantage

Solution 2:

Generally the expression 'high risk, high reward' is used to express the concept, especially in financial business.

Risk capital refers to funds used for high-risk, high-reward investments such as junior mining or emerging biotechnology stocks. Such capital can either earn spectacular returns over a period of time, or may dwindle to a fraction of the initial amount invested if several ventures prove unsuccessful. ( from Investopedia).

Solution 3:

I'm a bit late to the game here, but I would suggest make-or-break to describe a big risk with, potentially, a big reward.

From Merriam-Webster

Make-or-break - resulting in either definite success or definite failure

For example, "This latest money-making venture is make-or-break for me."

Solution 4:

A chess-player would refer to it as a gambit.

From Merriam-Webster:

Main Entry: gam·bit

Pronunciation: \ˈgam-bət\

Function: noun

Etymology: Italian gambetto, literally, act of tripping someone, from gamba leg, from Late Latin gamba, camba, from Greek kampē bend; probably akin to Gothic hamfs maimed, Lithuanian kampas corner

Date: 1656

a chess opening in which a player risks one or more pawns or a minor piece to gain an advantage in position

a (1) : a remark intended to start a conversation or make a telling point (2) : topic

b : a calculated move : stratagem

Solution 5:

"Going all-in" would seem to capture what you're going for.

Its literal definition comes from poker, but because it represents a hand where you'll literally either lose or win the maximum possible, it's used idiomatically for other situations with huge stakes in both directions.

From Wiktionary:

(poker) A hand where at least one player bets all of his or her chips.