DAILYJILI Burn Card and Cut Card: What Each One Does

A burn card is the first card a dealer takes off the deck and puts aside face-down, unseen, before the round is dealt. A cut card is a different object with a different job.

This page takes both definitions from New Jersey’s N.J.A.C. 13:47-20.2 and then shows how the Massachusetts Gaming Commission’s rules use each at the table. Your own table’s limits and rules are printed on its tile and panel, which the table limits at each live table page explains how to read.

Burn card and cut card side by side

How a dealer uses the burn card

The Massachusetts blackjack rules give the burn a fixed place in the routine. Here is the order they set out.

1. After each full set of cards is placed in the shoe, the dealer removes the first card face down and puts it in the discard rack.
2. Each new dealer who comes to the table also burns one card before dealing to the players.
3. A casino may offer players the option to skip the burn when a new dealer arrives.
4. The burn card is disclosed if a player asks for it.

Players never see the burned card in play, which is the whole point of the definition: its value is not shown. At a live-streamed table the studio’s dealer follows the table’s own rules, so the panel of the table you open is where its card handling is written.

How the cut card works

The cut card is the second item in the table above. Here is how the Massachusetts blackjack rules use it.

1. The player designated to cut places the cut card in the stack at least a deck in from either end.
2. The dealer moves the cards in front of the cut card to the back of the stack.
3. The dealer inserts the cut card again at a position at least approximately one-quarter of the way in from the back, and the stack goes into the shoe.
4. When the cut card is reached in the deal, the dealer finishes the round, then collects and reshuffles the cards.

The Massachusetts baccarat rules handle it differently: if the cut card shows up in the shoe, it is set aside, the dealer announces “last hand” and one more hand is played before new decks replace the cards. A casino supervisor may also require a recut if the cut looked improper, which is the kind of floor judgment the pit boss role page describes.

A worked example of a shoe round

This is arithmetic using the rule’s own figure, with a deck count chosen for the example. Say a shoe holds 6 decks of 52 cards, which is 312 cards, and a table follows the Massachusetts rule that places the cut card at least approximately one-quarter of the way in from the back.

1. 312 cards divided by 4 is 78 cards, so the cut card sits at least about 78 cards from the back.
2. The first card of the shoe is burned and goes to the discard rack unseen.
3. Dealing runs until the cut card is reached, the round finishes, and the cards are reshuffled.

Where burn and cut cards meet the rest of the live lane

Card handling is one part of how a live table differs from a game that runs on random numbers; the First Person games page covers that second range. To read how a table you open handles its cards, use the Live tab on the lobby home page and open the table’s info or rules panel.

1. Open the Live tab on the home page, under the Hot Games row.
2. Pick a table; the lobby lists Evolution and Pragmatic Play among the Live vendors.
3. Open its info or rules panel and read the card handling and the limits printed there.