Cut card is a non-playing plastic card that is used to cut the deck and conceal the value of the bottom card. It is blank and usually of a solid colour.
The bottom card of the deck may be exposed during the shuffling process. Cutting the deck ensures that the players who might have noticed the value of the bottom card don’t gain an unfair advantage over other players or the house.
Another reason is to prevent the dealer from arranging the cards in the deck in a specific order.
Players use a cut card to indicate to the dealer where the deck should be cut. The entire upper section above the cut card is moved to the bottom of the deck, with the cut card covering the bottom card.
While cutting the deck is mandatory in most casino games, using a cut card for this purpose is not obligatory in poker. A professional dealer can work with the deck in such a way that the value of the bottom card won’t be revealed. However, some casinos require their dealers to use a cut card to eliminate any possibility of the players seeing the bottom card.
In games such as blackjack, more than one cut card can be used. One of them serves the same purpose as the cut card in poker, i.e. to cut the deck and conceal the bottom card. Others are used to indicate to the dealer to shuffle the deck again once the cut card is reached. In blackjack, it helps bring the effect of card counting to a minimum. Doing so enables the house to maintain its edge.
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