Suspense keeps readers glued to the page. It's the heartbeat of thrillers, dramas, and even romantic comedies; suspense is responsible for driving curiosity, deepening emotion, and making every word feel like a loaded moment. But mastering it? That’s another story.

According to a 2022 study on narrative structure published in the journal Poetics, suspense engages readers through a blend of anticipation, retrospection, and emotion. Their research showed that fictional narratives built around suspense, surprise, or curiosity were significantly more enjoyable than those based in non-fiction. It’s what scholars call the Multidimensional Narrative Tension Theory of Enjoyment, where tension, built through story progression, evokes meaningful emotional and cognitive responses in the audience. In short: if you want readers to care, you need suspense.

But here’s the twist: nobody knows how to live through suspense better than poker players. Their world is built on poker faces, calculated risks, and high-stakes storytelling that unfolds in real time. Poker icons live out the emotional blueprints that fiction writers aim to craft. By studying three key suspense beats through the lens of famous poker players like Americas Cardroom’s Jon Pardy, Ebony Kenney, and Chris Moneymaker, we can gain insight into crafting fiction that keeps readers up all night.

Establishing the Underdog

Suspense needs contrast. And there’s no better way to build that than through an underdog. When someone underestimated walks into a room full of champions and still dares to fight, we lean in closer. And that’s exactly what Ebony Kenney did. At the Feeding America charity poker event, Kenney, one of the newer faces in professional poker, faced a table packed with celebrities and seasoned players. She didn’t just hold her own; she won. In a high-profile environment where appearances matter, experience is king, and your gender may be counted against you, Kenney emerged as the unexpected hero.

It’s the same dynamic that powers our favorite blockbusters. In Spider-Man: No Way Home, Peter Parker is outmatched by a multiverse of villains, but we root for him because he's out of his depth, and still swinging. Writers can tap into this energy by building suspense around a character’s perceived weakness and gradual rise. When your audience sees the low odds, every small victory becomes a nail-biter. Kenney’s win also mirrors what writers call "raising the stakes," by putting your characters in situations where failure is personal, public, and painful. That’s how you keep readers invested. The more the character has to overcome (and the less likely their success seems) the more suspense your story builds.

Making the Impossible Choice

Great suspense doesn’t start with action; it starts with dilemmas — the kind where there’s no perfect outcome, only consequences. That’s where Jon Pardy comes in. Before becoming a pro at Americas Cardroom, Pardy was best known for winning Big Brother Canada, a show built on deception, social manipulation, and, ultimately, impossible choices. In a legendary moment from the show, Pardy won the final Head of Household, giving him the sole vote to evict a fellow contestant. He chose to evict Neda Kalantar (his closest ally and a fan favorite) right before the finale. Unbeknownst to him, she had already planned to betray him. “It was the most hardcore betrayal,” as one commentator put it. That moment of decision, made in isolation and under pressure, wasn’t just shocking; it was narratively perfect. The student had surpassed the master, and Pardy went on to apply the same thinking at the poker table.

Writers can learn from moments like this. Fiction is full of impossible choices: Hamlet avenges his father by killing Claudius but must hurt his mother in the process. Frodo must destroy the Ring, even if it means losing himself. These dilemmas create internal tension that readers can feel, and they work best when the stakes are high, the emotions are raw, and the outcome changes everything. To emulate this in fiction, force your characters into decisions that cost them something like love, loyalty, or peace of mind, and make them choose anyway.

Pulling a Big Bluff

No suspenseful story is complete without deception. The thrill of misdirection, the power of a perfect bluff: it’s why readers keep turning pages. And nobody has pulled off a bluff more famously than Chris Moneymaker. At the 2003 World Series of Poker, Moneymaker, then an unknown accountant from Tennessee, found himself heads-up against professional player Sam Farha. Holding nothing but king-high, Moneymaker made the bold decision to go all-in. Farha folded a winning hand, and Moneymaker went on to win the tournament. ESPN’s Norman Chad dubbed it “the bluff of the century.” That moment led Moneymaker to win the title and helped ignite a global poker boom.

It’s the same energy that writers aim for in scenes of deception.

Consider Harry Potter walking willingly into the Forbidden Forest, seemingly to his death. Only later do we learn the truth: he was the true master of the Elder Wand all along. When he returns, he continues to fake his death until the very last, crucial moment. Bluffs like these hinge on one principle: conceal the truth, but plant enough hints so that the payoff feels earned. Bluffing in storytelling is less about lying to the reader and more about controlling information. Give readers just enough to believe one thing, then pull the rug out from under them at the perfect moment. Whether you're bluffing a villain, a lover, or the entire world, make sure your twist lands like Moneymaker’s: bold, brilliant, and unforgettable.

Bringing It All Together: Tips for Writing Suspense That Rivals the Felt

Creating suspense relies on a method. But like poker, it requires patience, risk, and timing. In our article on Writing Netflix-Worthy Books, good storytelling relies on “emotions that are thoroughly subjective.” To write scenes that resonate, authors must go beyond technical structure and into lived experience. Interview people, research real emotions, and infuse your characters with decisions that echo those stakes. Here are a few guiding principles:

Build dilemmas, not just decisions. Make your characters lose something either way.
Position your underdog early. The audience will root for them more when the odds stack up.
Reveal twists at the moment of maximum tension, not convenience.
Use real-world models, like poker champions, to understand the psychology of suspense.

Poker is storytelling in real time. By watching how professionals like Jon Pardy, Ebony Kenney, and Chris Moneymaker navigate tension, fiction writers can learn to write scenes that hold attention like a final hand at the Main Event. Because whether it’s at the table or on the page, suspense isn’t about what’s happening; it’s about what might.