How to Write a Poker Story
The game of poker involves betting between players, each with a set number of cards. Players can call each other’s bets and concede that they have a good hand, or bluff. The player with the highest ranked hand of cards at the end of the betting phase wins the “pot”—all the bets placed during that round.
A typical poker game has a dealer who deals one card face down to each player and then another card faces up. This is known as the flop. A second round of betting ensues after this. The first player to act has a higher hand than any other player in the same position and thus must place a bet.
Each player is dealt two more cards, which are known as the turn and the river. Once the players have all three cards in their hands they must decide if they want to continue to raise or lower their bets depending on their current hand and their confidence in that hand. They can also choose to fold their hand and drop out of the game.
To make a poker story interesting, the writer needs to show some character development and describe how the players react to each other. It’s not possible to be inside the heads of every player, but describing their facial expressions and movements is not only interesting but also informative for the reader. It can be fun to describe the tells of each player, as well — the unconscious habits that reveal secrets about their hands.