In poker, the term “burn card” refers to the practice of a dealer discarding the top card of the deck before dealing the next card or cards. This “burnt” card is placed face down on the table and is no longer included in the game.

This process serves to prevent cheating or unfair play, as it makes it more difficult for players to predict the next card in the deck, even if someone has seen the top card. Burning a card happens before community cards are dealt on the board and before drawing the “river” in games such as Texas hold ‘em and Omaha hold ‘em.