They are generally given a choice of whether or not to participate, even if the alternative is another bad situation. Players are rarely forced to play these games or make the absurdly high wager. This is usually justified by setting the game in an underground gambling facility, possibly operated by an Eccentric Millionaire, where unconventional bets are accepted and violence can be used to collect on debts. Losers will honor the bet even though there is no legal grounds compelling them to follow through. (Especially common in poker, where the rule that all 'holding' players must have contributed equally to the pot is easily ignored.) The item wagered is usually not appraised, with no agreement made about what reward the player should receive in the unlikely event he does, somehow, win the game. Cars, houses, family members, organs, their life, or other non-liquid assets they can't afford to lose will be wagered by a desperate, cash-starved gambler. Therefore, storytellers will crank the stakes up by causing characters to bet enormous sums of money well above the table limits of a casino game. But, as anyone who's watched Poker on television can attest, the same games that are fun to play can be painfully boring to watch, as spectators have no stake in the proceedings and do not experience the thrill of winning.
Gambling games are fun for the participants.
Snifit or Whifit Host, Paper Mario: Color Splash
