a speculative scheme that depends on unstable factors that the planner cannot control; "his proposal was nothing but a house of cards"; "a real estate bubble"

an unstable construction with playing cards; "he built three levels of his cardcastle before it collapsed"

House of Cards was a political thriller novel written by Michael Dobbs, a former Chief of Staff at Conservative Party headquarters, which was set at the end of Margaret Thatcher's tenure as British Prime Minister. In 1990, it was televised in a critically and popularly acclaimed television drama serial by the BBC, for which it is probably better known. The story was adapted by Andrew Davies.

Building a house of cards (also known as a card tower) is a pastime involving the stacking of playing cards on top of each other in order to form a structure. The structures created using this method rely on nothing more than balance, or the compression weight of other playing cards, in order to stay upright. No adhesives or other external connecting methods are used, and no damage or alterations are made to the cards themselves.

House of Cards is an episode of the American television sitcom Yes, Dear.

House of Cards is a 1968 thriller starring George Peppard, Inger Stevens and Orson Welles.