Downcard is the term used to describe hole cards in Stud. In seven card Stud, players are dealt 4 upcards and 3 downcards. Although all seven cards belong exclusively to us, the 4 upcards are visible to the table and give our opponents a clue regarding our possible hand strength. The 3 downcards are known only to us and are used in conjunction with the 4 upcards to make a 5-card hand.

Draw is the term used to describe a hand that can improve to a strong holding if the right cards fall. The two most common types of draws are straight draws and flush draws. Straight draw means we are waiting on one card to complete a straight while flush draw means we are waiting on one card to complete a flush. The term Draw also applies to a selection of poker variants that involve drawing cards from the deck before each betting round. The most widely known Draw variant is five-card Draw, although 2-7 triple Draw and Badugi are also popular types of Draw poker.

To cripple the deck means that our hand is so strong that it is virtually impossible for our opponent outdraw us. Imagine flopping Quads in Hold’em; we might say that we “have the deck crippled”. The term crippled is also used to describe a situation where we become hopelessly shorts tacked in a poker tournament. We are technically still alive in the tournament, but it’s extremely unlikely we’ll make a comeback given our stack is so small.

A continuation bet is any bet made after taking the last aggressive action on the previous betting round. In Hold’em it is most commonly used for describing a bet on the flop after open-raising or 3betting preflop – however it can be used for any scenario where we follow up on previous aggression. For example, after firing a continuation bet on the flop, a second bet on the turn is referred to as a turn continuation bet.

Chinese poker is simply a type of poker game, although it’s quite different from some of the form of poker we might be familiar with. For a start, players don’t make use of chips like in common poker variants such as Hold’em and Omaha. Instead, players play for points or units. The objective is to arrange our cards into three rows where points are awarded for rows that beat our opponent’s corresponding row. Like Stud games, there are many different versions of Chinese Poker so it’s definitely a good idea to recap on the exact rules before playing for real money.

A bluff in poker means to represent that we hold a strong hand when we don’t. We make bets and raises in the hope that our opponent gives us credit for having a legitimate hand and folds the best hand as a result. Bluffing is an important part of poker and in many cases what makes the game so appealing to first time players. Without the aspect of bluffing, poker would simply be a game where players try to make the strongest hand.