Video Poker Cards

In poker online, dealers typically “burn” a card after the deck is shuffled. The burn card is the top card on the deck at the casino online, and it is placed faced down on the table, out of play. Some online poker games, such as Texas Hold ‘Em and Omaha feature more than one burn card. After each round of betting, a card is burned before the flop and then another burn card is discard before the turn and river.

Burn cards are meant to thwart the two most common forms of cheating: card marking, and second card dealing. Burning cards is a poker tradition that stems from the days long before today’s sophisticated casino surveillance made cheating difficult to do.

Sometimes a player will mark a card ever so slightly so that is it hardly noticeable, such as turning up a corner just a bit. And the backs of cards themselves sometimes have a slight imperfection that might be seen by an especially perceptive player. Since the top card is often on display while there is betting, players can look at it for any special marks. By burning it, the dealer eliminates any advantage a marked card on top might give any player.

Burning the top also prevents “second dealing” – a trick which allows the dealer to secretly manipulate the second card for the purpose of cheating, an unlikely occurrence in today’s card rooms equipped with video cameras.

Using burn cards also gives some flexibility in correcting a misdeal. For instance if a card turns face up when pitched, it becomes the burn card.

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