The object is to have a hand with a total value higher than the dealer's without going over 21. Kings, Queens, Jacks and Tens are worth a value of 10. An Ace has the value of 1 or 11. The remaining cards are counted at face value.

One such bonus was a ten-to-one payout if the player's hand consisted of the ace of spades and a black jack (either the jack of clubs or the jack of spades). This hand was called a "blackjack", and the name stuck even after the ten-to-one bonus was withdrawn.