Drink before card game contributing to final defeat? (8)
I believe the answer is:
waterloo
'final defeat?' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'drink before card game' is the wordplay.
'drink' becomes 'water' (I've seen this before**).
'before' says to put letters next to each other.
'card game' becomes 'loo' (historic card game found in Jane Austen novels).
'water'+'loo'='WATERLOO'
'contributing to' is the link.
(Other definitions for waterloo that I've seen before include "Losers may meet theirs" , "Napoleon's final defeat" , "Tracked site" , "Definitive battle of the Napoleonic Wars" , "Total or crushing defeat" .)