I was the most excited to read this one because I love the sprites so much, and it met my expectations!
There was a lot of good tension during the card game, and one can easily empathize with Jack. I love how you put the suits above their head, and the portraits being cards when they speak looks fantastic!
Some pauses/fades between scene transitions would be nice, though, because some of the shifts felt just a little jarring but not to the point I was unable to follow the story. Like Erebus, I'm assuming your application of 'expanding' here is the growing bet / rising risk / stakes which for me, works just fine.
Your music choices were great! It contributed to the atmosphere of a dark, back-alley card game complete with the desperate smell of cigarettes, cologne, and (In my imagination) A little booze.
For your woof, Remy, He's cute! I hope he's not going to backstab Jack.
Overall I had a lot of fun reading this, I was engaged from start to finish and I look forward to seeing how the story concludes should you continue!