1. Be Prepared

Have your money in hand and know what you are going to order. The more efficient your order is the more appreciative the bartender will be and hopefully he will favor you when you go back to order round two.

2. Choose your spot wisely

If there are two bartenders, stand in between their “territories.” You will usually will get served first because the bartenders want to secure their tips.

3. Snake your hand through the crowd until it touches the bar

Placing your hand on the bar is like placing a flag in the ground, the territory is now yours. Once your hand is secure, ease your way through the open spaces when people clear out. When you reach the bar face your body horizontally to the bar and put both hands on the bar.

4. Catch the bartender’s eye as soon as possible

Give him a nice smile and tilt your chin up. This lets him know that you are there and ready to order. Don’t yell “bartender,” wave your money around, snap your fingers or shout “I’m next” or “I was here first,” unless of course you want to be continually ignored for the rest of the night.

5. Give your order quickly, loudly, and clearly

This goes along the same lines of be prepared. You want to start a good relationship with the bartender, so the more smoothly your order goes the better relationship you will have.

6. Tip generously

It is kind of a no brainer that the better you tip the better you will be served, but this holds especially true at bars. The bigger the tip, the more likely the bartender will serve you immediately and skip over other people to do so.

7. Flirting

In most jobs flirting is considered demeaning, pretentious, taboo and just outright rude. However, when played right, flirting at a bar can quickly escalate you from a plain face in the crowd to number one customer. Just make sure you aren’t sloppy-drunk flirting.

8. Friends and Regulars

Everyone favors their friends over random strangers. So come in on a slow night and start up a conversation with the bartender. You will probably learn some interesting things and may even get some free drinks out of it. Trust me, this one works for sure.