War's main objective is for a player to beat the dealer by having a higher card. If the player's card is higher then the player will win 2 times the original amount wagered. If the player and the dealer's card is of the same value then the player can either choose "fold" or "go to war" by raising the wager. If the player folds then they will automatically lose the amount wagered.

When the player raises an amount equal to the original wager is added to the bet and both the dealer and player receive three cards face down plus one card face up. The highest face up card is determined as the winner. If the player wins then they will receive a win twice the amount of what they wagered in addition to the raise amount.

One example of this is if a player's wager or ante is $5 and the player then raises $5 with a higher card than the dealer the player would win twice the amount of the wager and the raise amount which equals $15. Then again, if the card is lower than the dealers then the player will lose the wager and the raise. If after a war the player and the dealer have a card of the same value then the player will win.