Balatro – Ultimate Guide for Beginners

This is a full guide to the game, featuring various tips, descriptions, and crucial information.

Intro

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In the roguelite card game Balatro, poker rules are combined with deck-building. Your goal is to collect chips by playing smart poker hands and eliminating opponent blinds. Upgrade your deck with playing cards, get Jokers to make every hand better, and find thrilling synergies to win!

Gameplay Rules

In Balatro gameplay, there are no distinct stages; instead, each run consists of multiple rounds of Boss Blinds that must be defeated by reaching a specific score through playing various poker hands.

There are 15 different game modes (decks), and each of them has 8 difficulty levels.

Each game is random, but there is also the option to play on a seeded run by inputting a custom seed. The seed predeterminedly determines all the boss blinds and shop options available in that run. However, this disables the discovery of new items from the collection, and all statistics are disregarded.

Between each round, you can purchase new cards and abilities from an in-game shop, using money earned by playing each round efficiently.

Balatro operates on a straightforward concept – each poker hand is assigned a point score and a corresponding multiplier. You receive a hand, get the opportunity to discard up to five cards at once, and then aim to achieve the highest possible points total. There are no direct opponents, only escalating points targets that you strive to surpass (though there are bosses introducing additional, often challenging, mechanics to navigate). The setup is simple and elegant.

The Key to Understanding Balatro

The core concept of Balatro lies in recognizing that every addition to your deck isn’t a form of cheating; rather, it’s a way to fundamentally alter how poker operates. The most evident among these tools are the Jokers, which exist independently from your deck and provide 150 distinct methods to modify the behavior of your other cards. These alterations range from buffing specific suits to earning extra currency and introducing truly unpredictable abilities.

However, beyond Jokers, there are avenues to incorporate additional abilities into your entire deck, amplify the strength of certain hand types, add extra cards to your lineup, eliminate or modify suits, and much more.

It might feel overwhelming initially, but as you grasp the multitude of variables and their interactions, you realize that, in Balatro’s hands, the game of poker becomes a mutable and mercurial entity.

I’ve constructed decks where a simple Pair holds more power than a Straight Flush. I’ve crafted decks that alter the way straights function and enable me to create wild combos more frequently.

I’ve played around with decks, discovering valid poker hands in this game that don’t even exist in the real life game: Five of a Kind, Flush House, and others.

This isn’t a game about adhering to rules for success; it’s about altering the rules to redefine what success means. I’ve already achieved point scores I didn’t think were possible when I started playing.

Basic Tips

Right Click

If you’ve selected several cards and then changed your mind you can right click to quickly and easily deselect all cards. (You won’t believe how many players don’t know about it!)

Graphic settings

If you have trouble telling apart card suits you can turn on High Contrast Cards setting changing the look of your cards to make them more distinct.

You can also reduce the screen shake and CRT Bloom if they are bothering you. (If I’m honest, I have no idea why CRT Bloom exists; playing with it set to anything other than 0 is torture.)

Reset

If your run is a total failure, and you want to start over, you don’t have to go back to the main menu. Just hold down the R key and you will immediately start a new game.

Viewing hidden cards using tarot or spectral cards

When you use a tarot card, an animation plays that flips the card. Many bosses present you with face down cards, so if you lower the animation speed and then add an enhancement or change the suit of a face down card, you can peek at what it is for valuable information.

Another way to see hidden cards

If only some cards in your deck are hidden, you can use Hand Sort by alternating between Rank and Suit. By observing how the cards shuffle, you can often easily recognize their suit or rank or determine them with a high probability.

Hand can become “discard”

If you’ve already used all your discards and are only a few cards away from creating a great combination in your hand, you can sacrifice a Hand by selecting only weak cards (probably playing a High Card or some other garbage hand). However, remember to calculate your odds and probabilities carefully; sometimes, it’s not worth the risk.

Math is your friend

You have plenty of time, and at any moment, you can carefully review which cards are left in your deck, which suit is the most abundant, whether there are many face cards left, and so on. Do simple calculations, calculate probabilities. Check if it’s worth playing two good hands or if you can win the entire round in one move.

Pay attention to what’s remaining in your deck when discarding cards so that you don’t take unnecessary risks. For example, if you have 4 Hearts and are hoping for a flush, check your deck before you discard to see how many of each suit is left, to see if it’s a reliable bet.

Just Do It

Play around with this card whenever you are in the menu.

Balance of Jokers

Making sure you have a good balance of Jokers is crucial. Meaning having atleast one Chips, one +Mult, and one X-Mult Joker. Relying solely on chips or exclusively on all Mult Jokers can be detrimental to a run.

Multiplier Cards

This sounds obvious but is worth stating. Position your Multiplier Jokers to the far right of your list and your regular multiple cards to the left.

Don’t overlook your economy

Make sure you’re collecting interest and generating cash through jokers/enhanced cards as much as possible. Cash is super powerful as it allows you to finely tune your deck in the shops. Don’t be afraid to skip shops.

Become a Hermit

Always buy Tarot card Packs when you have 15 gold or more, as The Hermit can double your gold up to 20 at any time, and The Temperance can give you the sell value of all your Jokers.

Gold making Jokers

Especially early, try to focus on getting money. Take Jokers that give increase your gold, and trigger them as much as possible (e.g., cloud 9 gives you gold for every 9 in your deck). Next sell Jokers that are only useful for making money once your build is strong enough, and replace them with scoring-related jokers.

Reroll the Shop

Don’t be afraid to reroll the shop. Once you have a lot of money, a reroll is worth it. It gets more expensive each time but resets after a new round.

A slight increase in the chance of obtaining consumable items

Jokers and consumables can only appear once – so if you already have, for example, the Greedy Joker, it won’t appear in the shop until you decide to sell or destroy it. This can be put to use though if you’re looking for a Tarot, Planet or Spectral card, hold on to some different ones in your slots. This way if you open a booster pack, the ones you already holding will not appear.

How to almost always win the first round in 1 hand

The rules may vary in some decks, but this method will work almost every time. Assuming you haven’t used any skips, your first round involves scoring 300 points without any Jokers and with all poker hands at the first level. How to achieve this in only 1 hand?

The best way is Flush, which has 35 Chips and 4 Mult. It’s easy to see that 300 / 4 – 35 = 40. So, you need to create a Poker Hand with the same suit worth equal to or greater than 40 Chips.

You can use all your discards in the process, making it successful almost every time. And if it doesn’t work out, you can easily reset the game. It’s best if you try to get 2-3 face cards with values of 10 Chips each, and the last card must complement the second-to-last one so that the total adds up to 10 or more. It’s easy to master and quick to apply, allowing you to win the first round in just one hand within 5-10 seconds.

Winning the first round in one hand is very important; it’s the first shop visit with 10 gold instead of 9, giving you a further advantage of an extra coin (2×5 or 5+ if you spend something in the shop).

Check the Run Info

You can always assess the Tags and Boss Blinds that await you, and tailor your strategy accordingly.

Playing simpler hands is completely fine

You don’t always have to aim for the most intricate combinations. Keep in mind that you cannot endlessly discard your cards. Evaluate your chances accurately, sometimes it’s better to lose 1$ than the entire run.

Skip Blind for more Money

Calculate how much money you can potentially gain in the round and compare it with what Tag offers you (Handy, Garbage, Investment Tag). Sometimes, it’s worth playing a slightly more challenging blind right away in exchange for much more cash.

Always have a Back-Up plan

Build up more than one type of hand if possible, for example, investing in both a Full House and Three or Four of a Kind simultaneously. If you only focus on one hand type, specific boss matchups can counter you and prematurely end your run. Always have a contingency plan.

FAQ + More Tips

Some useful tips for Black Deck

The black deck is just plain harder than others the -1 hand is a major downside and the 6th Joker won’t usually come into play early unless you get the Joker that gives you 2 jokers every blind early. Its pretty much the only deck where you are going to get rekt by rng early regularly before you can get going.

Tip is that you can’t afford to have a low point hand throw in ever because you don’t have a lot of hands to throw away be very picky and try to make every hand count.

Restart until you get a good tag to skip to (Like Create common Jokers for quick start). Press and hold R to quick reset when you’re on the blind selection screen helps.

How to beat Gold Stake difficulty

I can give you some tips to beat Gold Stake difficulty. I won using the initial deck(+1 discard) so those tips below are heavily for the deck. I hope you can find some general tips from those as well.

Don’t skip your first battle if you really want to go RNG.

After the first battle, you can have an opportunity to purchase a pack or a card. This is huge even thought you can’t gain win money for the first battle. Additionally, you can gain 2 or 3 bucks by remaining hand bonus if you’re lucky. Of course, a tag bonus looks strong but considering that every shop have a possibility to sell permanent Joker, it’s too much RNG.

Buy time by purchasing a Joker that affects your score ASAP.

Without it, you can’t win the first fight on the second Ante. Remember, sometimes shop doesn’t sell a Joker, it’s important to buy it ASAP. Every Joker is fine if that affects your score. Jokers that help you earn money is also quite important for sure. But you need time to see several shops to stabilize your run. After stabilizing your score, you should gain remaining hand bonus and it’s enough money for early Ante. Additionally, if a Joker is not permanent and you have a space for that, you probably need to purchase it. You can sell a Joker at any time so it’s not so expensive. + you may find a Joker/Tarot card to gain benefit from it.

Don’t underestimate chip bonus.

Yes, ‘+’ and ‘x’ multiplier is important. But ‘chip’ bonus is also as important as them. Even the chip bonus Joker is a common, it’s sometimes very effective. Don’t choose a Joker that provides ‘+’ multiplier bonuses too much.

Don’t underestimate enhanced (steel, multi and bonus) card.

They are stronger than you think. Tarot cards that change suits or give random two planet is too weak to use on early Ante. So prioritize to add them. Steel card is the strongest and general one but on early Ante, multi and bonus card are stronger.

Don’t buy voucher on early Ante.

For example, ‘+1 hand’, ‘+1 discard’, or ‘x2 rate of rare card’ is not so strong on early Ante. You need more Joker, planet, enhanced card to stabilize your score and income. Only good voucher on early Ante is ‘-1 Ante’ since it gives you time to stabilize.

It’s too late to start growing a card from scratch after reaching Ante 4.

If you find a Joker that provides growing effect, like ‘gain permanent + X multi when you do Y’ after reaching Ante 4, don’t pick it. It’s usually too late to gain benefits from it. Every time I tried that at Ante 4, I died eventually.

Know your deck.

For example, the initial deck (+1 discard) is not so special. Under the ‘-1 hand size’ Stake debuff, it’s impossible to create a hand for three card, flush, or straight several times at first. But the deck is very flexible. Most of score bonus jokers can be triggered by using this deck. The boss debuff is not so effective against the deck since you can discard useless/face down cards more often. Also, you can find enhanced cards more often as well.

General tips and advice

A little bit of meta commentary to begin. Balatro is fairly akin to rogue-likes such as Rogue Legacy, specifically in that each run will actually give you more to work with for the following run, Rogue Legacy does this with the castle upgrades etc, Balatro does this with unlocking jokers and vouchers. For example you start with the “Crystal Ball” unlocked, but by using a total of 25 tarot cards from booster packs you unlock “Omen Globe” which is an upgraded version.

This one simple detail means you will go from barely getting past 20k in your earlier runs to getting stupidly high numbers in later runs, and finding interesting synergies between jokers, the results from the run below had three separate jokers that all triggered 3x multipliers, and they stack instead of just multiplying your base by 3 three times, so 3x3x3 is the same as 27x

Don’t get too hung up on using skips in your early runs on your profiles, once you have more jokers unlocked, the skip benefits increase in their worth as well. Once you start unlocking better quality jokers and modifiers for the jokers, you can focus on skipping blinds. Side note, “Negative” on joker is almost always worth whatever it is asking you to sacrifice for the added joker slot. additional side note It is almost always worth skipping both blinds for the “Pillars” Boss, as it debuffs any cards you used during that ante, and this can be a real run killer if you are trying to nail down an efficient setup.

Sometimes a more common card is better than a rarer one if it suits your other jokers, cards, hand levels etc.

Be cautious of taking Rare Jokers at the start of a run, some are great, some are trash until you have unlocked what makes them great.

Be aware of how jokers synergise, for example both Pareidolia, and Socks and Buskin by themselves are meh, but together all your hands are face cards and all face cards retrigger. Suddenly you are doing a lot more score output, then including any enhancements and seals that are applied and also retrigger as part of the card being played (you can have one enhancement and one seal per card), so this can build up a pretty decent score.

Get into the habit of cutting, converting, and adding cards to meet your game plan, in the run I posted the pic for, I had 25+ spades and less than 5 of the other suits, which meant I was literally stacking the deck for flush hands, that with upgrading my flush hand level as much as possible meant that even if a royal flush came up, playing a standard flush was worth more points.

Ultimately you need to put in some solid hours to get a feel and understanding of how the game runs so you know what to be looking out for, and that takes experience.

Don’t make these mistakes!

• Incorrectly evaluating more complex jokers or jokers that don’t directly affect your score.
• Neglecting planet cards.
• Not using tarots well like only using them in packs and not to enable specific hands as a consumable.
• Not buying spectrals or vouchers. never skipping for good tags.
• Joker build needs 3 factors to get over the hump of ante 8 – chip generation, flat multiplier value, x multiplier. people probably ignore chips the most if i had to guess.

How to get first win!

Here are a few random pointers for anyone having trouble getting their first win:

• As others have said, try to roll with the jokers and cards you can get, do not try to force a specific strategy.
• xMult jokers are very powerful. Pay special attention to them when they pop up.
• Same thing with jokers which can constantly get better with time, like those that improve their multiplier every time you do so and so.
• Planet cards become steadily more important as the run goes on. You can win the first rounds with level 1 hands, but you’ll definitely need to level up at some point. See what are your most likely hands based on your deck, and try to level those up.
• More on planets: I generally avoid leveling up the high card or single pair hands (unless it’s free, ofc), because it’s usually pretty easy to get anything better than that. I also avoid leveling up straight flush or four of a kind too early (especially straight flush), until I possibly have a deck that gives me a fair chance of getting those.
• Tarot cards that convert your cards to a specific suit can be amazing to get flush hands, if you can find enough of them.
• The Death and Hanged Man tarot cards are really useful to get rid of weaker cards, so you have a higher chance of drawing good ones. They can also really help you get rid of specific suits, again to improve your chances of getting a flush with the suit you’re going for.
• Always check out the tag you’ll get if you skip a blind, and consider the consequences. You can’t afford to skip all the blinds, but unless you’re really unlucky with the tags you get, there should always be several occasions per run where it’s worth it.

Good luck!