Real Dictionary

waiting game
If you play a waiting game, you deal with a situation by deliberately doing nothing, because you believe you will gain an advantage by acting later, or because you are waiting to see how other people are going to act.

waiting game in American English
a scheme by means of which one outwits or wins out over another by delaying or postponing action until one has an advantage
a stratagem in which action on a matter is reserved for or postponed to a later time, allowing one to wait for a more advantageous time to act or to see what develops in the meantime

waiting game in British English
noun: the postponement of action or decision in order to gain the advantage