As someone who likes to play a game of cards, I really enjoy the narrative. The game is very well explained with the help of the illustrations, which is the best decision in telling complicated stuff. I've lost my mind so many times trying to explain various games of cards to new people and tell them to jump in the game right away.
I take it that the interpretation of the theme "expanding" lies within the rising stake of the bet? Could be wrong, but couldn't see it any other way. It's well captured in the story, but definitely could be better felt in the next act. I was too invested in seeing how the game goes, that "to be continued" just pulled the rug under me. Welp, don't have much to say in the writing department bcs it's not my forte.
Presentation-wise, the vibe is "there". Love all the custom sprites and the little detail makes me question if there is some sort of symbolism there. However, the VN can definitely benefit from simple improvements like the use of transitions between scenes and pauses. The latter is important bcs some scene changes felt too jarring without some break between them.
I assume you just use the traditional left, middle, and right positions for the sprites, hence there were only max 3 sprites on screen? I'm just being picky here but putting all four of them together, with Jack and Remy facing right (gotta flip Remy's sprite), while the other two facing left, would make the scene more tense and foreshadow that plot point. Also, did you put all the quotation marks manually, not using prefix-suffix?
All in all an enjoyable read. +1 for "that's definitely Torahiko." Broken heart be pushing men to edges.