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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/44544
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

What is the point of the scene?

High stakes games can happen in an extremely relaxed atmosphere if all the players are emotionally stable, understand poker and what to expect from it, and are properly bankrolled.

If you're hoping to magically get tension just because it's a "high stakes" poker game, you will fail - you really need to figure out where the scene fits into to the bigger story, how it impacts characters after the results of the game are known, what each player brings to the game, what the relationships between the players are and how they evolve during the game, etc, then you have a chance of writing an impactful and memorable scene.

As far as elements of poker that can help you make the action more dramatic, assuming the scene actually makes sense in the larger arc of the story, think of these, and see if they apply:

- Maybe a player does not understand poker, is gambling with too much money, and just loses without understanding what's going on? Does the damage done by gambling fit into your story?
- Maybe a competent player is somehow forced into playing higher stakes that he's not bankrolled for, gets into a situation that would be fairly standard in poker, but being "money scared" because of the higher stakes is making the decision extra difficult for him.
- Maybe losing money is not the issue, but some other factors may be at play.
- Do you want to show a player outplaying another player?
- Do you want to show lady luck being harsh and letting a worse player hit the one-outer? 
- Do you want to show a standard situation that only impacts the players bankrolls in a statistically nominal way, and demonstrate that high stakes players can take bad beats and coolers in a professional manner?

In short - I'd suggest figuring out what role you want the game scene to play in your bigger picture, and then asking an actual good player to figure out the poker action that might help bring the readers along for the ride. If you try to write the poker action without understanding poker, you will end up with this: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfrcQ2EKVtA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfrcQ2EKVtA)

Original score: 2