How to Behave at a Blackjack Table
Updated
None of this changes your odds. All of it changes whether your first hour at a table is comfortable or excruciating, and most of it exists for a reason — usually the cameras.
- Do not hand money to the dealer. Put it on the felt.
- Signal with your hands, do not say it. The cameras cannot hear you.
- Do not touch your cards in a shoe game, and never touch your bet once dealt.
- Tipping is normal and entirely optional.
Sitting down and buying in
Wait for the current round to finish, then take a seat and place your cash on the felt, not in the dealer’s hand. Casinos prohibit hand-to-hand exchanges so that every transaction is visible on camera; it is not rudeness on their part.
The dealer will count it, announce it, and slide chips over. Some tables will not let you join mid-shoe — a “no mid-shoe entry” sign, which exists mostly to discourage counters.
The hand signals
Every decision is given by hand, because the surveillance recording has no sound. Learn these four and you will never be stuck:
| You want to | Cards dealt face up (shoe game) | Cards face down (hand-held) |
|---|---|---|
| Hit | Tap the felt with a finger | Scrape the cards lightly toward you |
| Stand | Wave a flat hand over the cards | Slide the cards under your bet |
| Double | Place a matching stack beside your bet, point one finger | Same, and turn the cards face up |
| Split | Matching stack beside your bet, two fingers in a V | Same |
Note that for doubling and splitting you place the second bet beside the original, never on top of it. Adding to a stack after the deal looks exactly like cheating.
The things not to do
Do not touch your bet once the cards are out. This is the one that gets a genuine reaction.
Do not touch your cards at all in a shoe game. They are dealt face up because nobody needs to.
Do not tell other players how to play. Even when they are wrong, and their play does not affect your odds anyway.
Do not blame anyone for a card. See above.
Can you use a strategy card at the table?
In almost every casino, yes. Basic strategy cards are sold in casino gift shops. Nobody minds, because a player using one still loses — just more slowly.
Keep it on the felt rather than waving it about, do not slow the game down looking things up, and expect the occasional remark. What is not allowed is any device: a phone at the table is a problem everywhere, and in Nevada using one to help you play is a felony. The legal position is here.
Tipping
Optional, common, and appreciated. The usual approach is a small bet placed for the dealer beside your own — if it wins, they win too, and it costs you nothing when it loses. A chip pushed across after a good run works the same.
There is no obligation and nobody will treat you badly for not doing it.
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By Martin Kosek · every number on this site is computed by us, not copied.
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