The burn card is part of a security measure used in card games like Baccarat to ensure fairness. After the deck is shuffled and cut, the dealer will take the top card and “burn” it, meaning the card is discarded and not used in the game. This prevents any players from having prior knowledge about the first card in play. In some versions, multiple cards are burned depending on the value of the first card.
Burn card Example
For example, if the first card drawn is a 7, the dealer may burn 7 cards before dealing the actual hands.