What is a burn card in blackjack?

What is a burn card in blackjack? We’ll give you a hint: it has nothing to do with 1970s music, but you will want to toss one card out before the first hand is dealt. Or as some might say… burn, baby, burn.

A burn card in blackjack is the first card pulled from a freshly shuffled deck and placed aside before play starts. It’s a long-standing casino tradition. And since it sparks plenty of questions, we’re diving into what it is, why it’s there, and whether you’ll run into it online.

Why burn a card in blackjack?

While it looks performative – and in some ways it is – there is a reason behind the burn card in blackjack.

The burn card exists to prevent cheaters from marking the backs of cards and then peeking at what’s coming next, a practice known as ‘card marking.’ For instance, if you knew there was an ace at the top of the shoe, you could double down on a 10 and lock in a natural 21 and rake in a monster (unfair) payday. By burning the first card, dealers ensure that no one can beat the system.

That said, these days it’s mostly an element of superstition. Modern casinos have layers of surveillance, automatic shufflers, and dealer procedures that make old-school tricks like card marking nearly impossible.

Plenty of players keep the tradition alive when they deal blackjack at home, too. Sure, your friends probably aren’t running elaborate cheating schemes on your kitchen table. But hey – if you skip the burn card and then realize someone was card marking, that gives you the chance to feel the burn for the whole table and go scorched earth instead, and that can be just as fun. 

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Is the burn card in blackjack important?

The burn card matters, but not for every game. It’s more like taking Theater Appreciation in your accounting program. It’s hardly important, unless you’re planning on working as Broadway’s tax guy.

For the everyday blackjack player, its impact on the game itself is almost nonexistent. One card removed from a shoe that holds hundreds won’t make or break your strategy. However, it looks pretty cool, and we can never discount that.

Where it does matter is in the fight against cheating, as we described with card marking. That could also include collusion between the dealer and an accomplice, like when a dealer secretly signals to a friend at the table about what card is coming next.

And if all of this sounds like a casino movie subplot, that’s because it is. Hollywood has glamorized these tricks for decades, from card sharks to blackjack teams. In reality, though, the burn card is just one minor roadblock to keep wannabe Ocean’s Eleven types from getting too clever. For card counters, it’s simply a wrinkle. If the dealer flashes the card, you add it to your count; if not, you shrug and keep going.

Is there a burn card when playing online blackjack?

Nope, in online blackjack games, you won’t see a burn card. That’s because in digital blackjack, there isn’t a physical deck, but rather a virtual one made up of the same 52 cards, reshuffled by the RNG (random number generator) after every hand. There’s no top card to peek at and no way to mark a virtual deck, so burning one would be about as useful as a screen door in a submarine.

That said, some online platforms still animate a burn card into the deal, purely for realism. In that case, it’s done for theater and does nothing for the security of the game. The only time a burn card is useful when playing online is in live dealer blackjack. Since those games use physical decks and real dealers, you may see the same ritual as you would at a casino, with one card pulled and tossed into the discard tray before the first hand.

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Have we answered your burning questions about the blackjack burn card? That’s what we’re here for. Although it’s mostly for tradition, the burn card does have a purpose, and that’s to ward off cheating. However, you don’t have to worry about any of that when you play blackjack online at Cafe Casino, where a third-party tested RNG operates every game. Choose from our 15+ blackjack games, and burn the house down with your savvy skills (not literally, please. We like it here).