I think OP probably has good intentions with their project, but maybe hasn't presented or framed it in the best way (gambling issue etc).

At the end of the day, I think trust is the biggest issue, and a game like this is likely (regrettably) better suited to a blockchain with more advanced smart contracting abilities, where management of the pots can be fully trustless and fair.

With regards to the game itself - there is fairly significant input lag that I'm confident is not just me. I'm guessing client inputs are sent to the server and the game is only updated to reflect the server state? You should implement client side prediction and interpolate the client state with the server state, so the player can get immediate feedback for their actions. For such a simple game, it shouldn't be too much of a headache, and it'll make the gameplay feel a lot more smooth