Variants
How to Play 21 Burn Blackjack
Hate your second card? In 21 Burn Blackjack you can pay to throw it away. Here is how the burn works, what it costs, and why most hands should keep the card they were dealt.
What is 21 Burn Blackjack?
21 Burn Blackjack is a blackjack variant with one extra choice: after seeing your first two cards and the dealer's up-card, you may pay a side wager to burn — throw away — your second card and take a new one. It is found in some land-based casinos and in online versions from several game studios.
Everything else plays like the blackjack you know: same card values, same goal, same hit, stand, double and split. If you need a refresher, start with how to play 21.
16
Shows 10The rules
| Decks | 6 |
|---|---|
| Blackjack pays | Even money (1:1) — not 3:2 |
| Dealer soft 17 | Hits (H17) |
| Double down | Any first two cards, including after a split |
| Splitting | Once only |
| Surrender | Not offered |
| Burn wager | Exactly half your original bet; original two-card hand only, never after a split |
| Burn wager pays | 7 to 1 if the new card is the Ace of Spades, 2 to 1 for any other Ace, loses otherwise |
Typical rules for the game. 21 Burn Blackjack is a proprietary game and versions differ — check the table card or the game's help screen before you play.
How the burn works
- Bet and receive your hand as normal: two cards for you, one up-card for the dealer.
- Decide whether to burn. To burn, place a burn wager of exactly half your main bet.
- Your second card is discarded and replaced with the next card from the shoe. Your first card always stays.
- The burn wager is settled on the new card: it wins 7 to 1 on the Ace of Spades, 2 to 1 on any other Ace, and loses on everything else.
- Play the new hand as normal — hit, stand, double or split. An Ace and a ten-card made by burning still counts as a blackjack.
A burn, step by step
You bet $20. You are dealt a 10 and a 6 against a dealer 10 — a hand that loses most of the time whatever you do.
16Shows 10
19Shows 10Had the new card been an Ace, you would have had blackjack and won 2 to 1 on the burn wager. Had it been a 5, you would be back on a stiff 15 and down the $10.
What the burn costs
Blackjack payout
Even money instead of 3:2 — the way the game pays for the burn option.
Cost of 1:1 blackjack
What an even-money blackjack adds to the house edge in standard blackjack.
Burn wager on its own
It loses about two-thirds of what you put on it, before counting the better hand it buys.
The −67% follows straight from the payout table. In a six-deck shoe, 1 card in 52 is the Ace of Spades and 3 in 52 are other Aces, so for every $1 burned:
(1 × $7 + 3 × $2 − 48 × $1) ÷ 52 = −$0.67
The house edge of the whole game therefore depends on how well you burn: used on the right hands the burn earns back the cost of the even-money blackjack; used on instinct it adds to it.
When to burn
The burn wager is half your main bet and loses about 67% of it, so each burn costs you about a third of your main bet (½ × 67% ≈ 34%). Burn only when a new second card improves the value of your main hand by more than that. In practice:
- Keep strong hands. Never burn 19, 20 or 21, a blackjack, or a 10 or 11 you are about to double.
- The card you keep decides it. Your first card always stays, so a new second card can only build a strong hand when that first card is strong — an 8, 9, 10 or Ace.
- Mostly against strong dealer cards. A 16 against a dealer 6 is fine to stand on; a 16 against a 10 is worth trying to rescue.
- Small first cards rarely justify it. With a 7 or less up front, a new card seldom makes a hand strong enough to pay back a third of your bet.
After any burn, play the new hand by normal basic strategy. You can check any resulting hand in the strategy calculator.
Not the same as a "burn card"
In ordinary blackjack, the dealer burns the first card after every shuffle — it goes straight to the discard tray unseen, a practice card games use to make it harder for anyone to have seen or marked the top card. That is a procedure, not a bet, and it makes no difference to your odds: an unseen card is no different from one buried deep in the shoe.
Card counters simply ignore the burn card, since they cannot see it. More on that in how to count cards in 21.
Blackjack variants comparedCompare the house edge and rules of six other blackjack games.Frequently asked questions
How much does the burn bet cost in 21 Burn Blackjack?
Exactly half of your original bet. You place it after seeing your first two cards and the dealer's up-card.
What does the burn bet pay?
The burn wager itself wins only if the replacement card is an Ace: 7 to 1 for the Ace of Spades and 2 to 1 for any other Ace. Any other replacement card loses the burn wager — its real value is the better hand it may give you.
Does a blackjack pay 3:2 in 21 Burn Blackjack?
No. A blackjack pays even money (1:1). That rule is the single biggest cost in the game, and it is how the house pays for the burn option.
Can you burn after splitting?
No. The burn option is only available on your original two-card hand, before you split.
Is burning ever a good idea?
Occasionally. The burn wager on its own loses about two-thirds of what you put on it, so a burn only pays when it improves your main hand by more than that — mostly when your first card is strong and your second card leaves you with a poor total.
Sources
Rules and figures in this article are taken from Wikipedia:
- Blackjack — Rule variations and effects on house edge — Wikipedia
- Burn card — Wikipedia