Playing blackjack is full of rules and etiquette practices that players need to adhere to, and using hand signals in casinos for novices can be confusing, but what if you’re a pro? Do you fancy shaking things up in your next? Let’s try some new hand gestures.

Hand signals in blackjack play many roles. They help the dealer keep track of your actions and most of all, it makes life easier for the casino surveillance system.

So let’s have a look at some creative variations of classic blackjack hand movements to spice things up a bit if you fancy gestures that are still in keeping with casino table manners.

Hit me baby one more time

Blackjack hand signals tend to vary depending on what game you’re playing, whether it’s face up or down.

To get a hit, in a face up game you tap your index finger and point at your cards as you say hit. You could confuse the dealer by tapping your fingers in succession like a James Bond villain before settling for one tap. The others might not get the funny side of this though.

You can also give the “come hit me” sign with your hand as you beckon the dealer to metaphorically punch you in the face with a card. This one is cheekier than menacing, since you can play around with it a bit.

In a face down game, you signal your hit by scraping your cards on the table. You can go to town on this one by scraping from various angles, or slowly scrape them while you give your dealer a mean look, menacing, like you’re plotting something.

For some reason the best stuff we can come up with involves channeling spy movie villains, sorry, maybe you should take a Persian cat in with you to stroke, as you cackle and scheme.

Stand by me

When you want to stand in a face up game, it’s enough to just wave over the cards to indicate you don’t want anymore.

You can make it part of your smart strategy to fool the dealer into thinking you’re an imbecile by waving over the cards in a panic or doing a wave in the air. It might make you look cool or a complete moron. The secret is confidence.

Face down is harder. You have to shove the cards under the chips without toppling them over, so unless your name is Mr. Bean, you’re not going to want to flick chips all over the dealer.

So slide your cards under and then do a hand gesture that is the sign language equivalent of “smooth”.

Maybe turndown the cocky factor though.

Double down

If you fancy your chances to double, then you can ask your dealer for an additional card and double your bet.

When your cards are showing, to indicate you want to double down, you simply need to place another pile of chips next to your original bet.

You can be creative and obnoxious about this by dropping each chip one by one until you match the original bet.

In the face up game, you’ll want to life a finger to indicate the fact you’re looking to double. You can wiggle your finger in a circle to spice things up or just scratch the air with your finger. Just be sure your croupier knows what you’re doing.

For face down games, unfortunately, the chips are enough to say exactly what you want.

Splitting the odds

Splitting is pretty much the same as doubling, with slightly different gestures.

These are placed face up in the face down game following a double bet, and unless you have a very creative way of thinking, we can’t think of a sassy way to do this, to be honest.

In a face up game though, you just need to use two fingers to split. Why not mime a pair of scissors cutting something, just to be different.

Once you’ve doubled the bet and given the signal, the dealer will do the rest.

Sweet Surrender

Sometimes you can use surrender to your advantage and know when to play it so you don’t end up losing money.

If you’re dealt a hand you’re not happy with, like a stiff made up of a 9 and a 6, you can surrender and only lose half of your bet.

In order to signal your surrender, you move your finger from right to left. You can show this as a squiggle or walk your fingers across the table. Hopefully the dealer will get what you mean here.

Vegas or bust

In both games, the best way to show the dealer your bust is by turning over your cards. It’s not really good etiquette to simply toss them at the dealer.

So just flip them up.

However, you can casually flip the cards up or get creative by using one card to flip the other, push your chips in and cry. Make a dramatic exit – whatever works for you.

It’s good not to play around too much with the hand signals if you’re a newbie though, since the others on the table might get the impression you’re just not taking the game seriously.

However, experienced players and high rollers are able to push the boat all out, whether it’s a relaxed way of playing or you’re in the mood to channel a villain –as we say – it’s all in the hands.