Blackjack is a game which could almost be played silently like other casino games such as Roulette, Poker, Slot Machines, Bingo.  A lot is communicated by signals and non-verbal forms of communications.  This is basically done for the benefit of the casino security cameras. For example, when a player wants to buy chips, he places the money on the table and waits.  He doesn’t hand the money to the dealer because the dealer is not allowed to take the money from the player’s hand.  A player who wants a hit, holds the cards face down and scratches the table in front of him. If he doesn’t signal that way, he may just tap the table in front of him.  He doesn’t tell the dealer verbally. A player who wants to stand will wave his hand, palm down, back and forth to indicate that he doesn’t want any cards.  When a player wants to double down, he places his cards face down on the table and places a stack of chips equal to his initial bet behind the original stack of chips.  A player who wants to split a pair separates the cards in front of him and places a second bet equal to the amount of his initial bet next to one of the split cards.

The player must learn these different signals and use them at the Blackjack table.  In many cases the dealer won’t respond to a verbalization without the use of the signal.  He isn’t being rude or giving the player a hard time.  He has to justify things to the security people.