A Beginner’s Guide to Balatro (Master the Deck-Building Poker Game)

Forget everything you think you know about poker. While Balatro borrows the concept of hand rankings, it’s actually closer to games like “Two More Inches” that focus on building the best five-card hand possible.

You’ll be dealt an oversized hand and tasked with scoring points by creating poker hands like straights, flushes, and full houses. The only catch is that you only get a limited number of attempts to surpass a required score.

Balatro Glossary Terms

Before going into core strategies, let’s familiarize ourselves with key terms and concepts:

• Ante: The minimum buy-in for a game, analogous to the “level” in Balatro. Each ante consists of three progressively difficult blinds.
• Blind: A challenge within an ante, requiring you to build the best hand possible. There are three blinds per ante.
• Hand: Up to five cards you can play to score points. Left-click a card to raise it, aiming for the highest-scoring combination.
• Discard: Removing unwanted cards from your hand, hoping to draw better ones. You only get a specific number of discards per blind.
• Suit: The symbol on a card (Hearts, Diamonds, Clubs, Spades).
• Rank: The numerical value of a card (Ace [A] being the highest, followed by King [K], Queen [Q], etc.).

Poker Hands Reference

You only need to know the basics of poker to play Balatro. Here’s a quick rundown of hand rankings, from least to most valuable:

• High Card (Single card): Any card on its own (unless the boss devalues all cards).
• One Pair (Two of a Kind): Two cards of the same rank (AA, KK, etc.).
• Two Pair: Two separate pairs in one hand (AAKK or KKAA).
• Three of a Kind (Triplet): Three cards of the same rank (AAA).
• Straight: Five cards in consecutive order (65432 or AKQJ10).
• Flush: Five cards of the same suit (HHHHH for Hearts).
• Full House: A combination of a Three of a Kind and a Pair (AAAKK or AAKKK).
• Straight Flush: The holy grail – a Straight and a Flush combined (AKQJ10, all the same suit).
• Four of a Kind (Quad): Four cards of the same rank (AAAA).

Building Your Strategy

As a beginner, it’s wise to focus on hands like Straight, Flush, or Full House. These offer a good balance of ease of creation and scoring potential.

Keep an eye on the opening shop to see if one of these suits is particularly well-supported with cards and jokers, and adapt your strategy accordingly.

• Full House: This scales well and can fall back on Three of a Kind if things get dicey. Some jokers can even make Three of a Kind a viable strategy. It’s a versatile option for most players.
• Flush: If you get lucky with jokers that help build Flushes, this can be a winning strategy. However, Flushes don’t scale as well in later stages as they rely heavily on drawing the right suit.
• Straight: Similar to Flushes, Straights are easier to build but don’t score as high later on. They can be a good early-game strategy, but aim to transition to Full Houses or other high-scoring hands as you progress.

Scoring in Balatro

Your score is calculated by multiplying Chips by Multiplier and then by XMultiplier.

• Chips: Each card contributes its rank in chips (Ace = 11, Face Cards = 10).
• Multiplier (+Mult): Increases your score (e.g., +2 Mult or X2 Mult).
• XMultiplier (XMult): Multiplies your total Multiplier (e.g., +4 Mult with X2 Mult becomes +8 Mult).

Balatro Lingo

Balatro throws around some unique terms you won’t find in a standard poker game. Here’s a breakdown to help you navigate:

• Skip: You can bypass blinds or booster packs for a bonus.
• Tag: The bonus you receive for skipping a blind.
• Modifier: Enhancements, seals, and editions that alter your cards’ effects.
• Joker: Special cards with unique abilities, often game-changers.
• Negative Joker: A seemingly negative effect (like taking up an extra slot) that is actually beneficial (letting you hold more jokers).
• Voucher: Permanent upgrades acquired through the shop.
• Consumable: Temporary power-ups like Tarot cards that get discarded upon use.
• Arcana Packs (Tarot Cards): Enhance your deck by raising card ranks or creating wild cards.
• Celestial Packs (Planet Cards): Increase the score of specific hand types (e.g., Earth for Full House).
• Spectral Packs (Spectral Cards): Offer powerful effects often balanced by drawbacks (e.g., destroying cards to create enhanced ones).
• Deck: Each deck has a special ability, and cards reset between runs. You keep unlocked cards.
• Win: Beating the boss of the 8th ante with a deck unlocks new content and Endless mode.
• Endless Mode: The ultimate challenge mode where you face exponentially difficult blinds.

Mastering the First Blind

If you’re getting overwhelmed by the options, here’s how to tackle the first blind:

• Scan for Big Scores: Look for cards that can form Straights, Flushes, Full Houses, or at least high pairs. Aim for Aces and Faces for better scoring potential.
• Prioritize Less Plays: You get more money for winning with fewer hands played. Discard strategically to create better hands.
• Play Smart: If you don’t see a winning hand, discard your lowest cards. You’ll have more opportunities to draw better ones later.
• Full House or Flush?: Aim for these as they offer a good balance of attainability and score. Flushes might be slightly easier to build but have a lower overall ceiling.

Early Game Strategies

• Focus on +Mult Jokers: These multiply your score and become more valuable as you acquire XMult jokers.
• Boosters: If jokers aren’t cooperating, consider Celestial/Astral packs to enhance your deck or Planet cards to directly boost scores. Opt for packs that complement your strategy (Earth for Full House).
• Spectral Cards: Early on, the drawbacks of Spectral cards might be manageable. They can be a good source of enhanced cards.
• Vouchers: Invest in permanent upgrades like extra hand size once you have a steady income.

Remember: Balatro is a roguelike. You’ll lose often, but each run teaches you valuable lessons.

Advanced Game Strategies

Once you’ve grasped the basics, here are some advanced tactics to improve your game:

• Capitalize on Interest: The game offers interest on your money between rounds. Some cards even generate additional income. Utilize this to reroll and unlock powerful jokers.
• Optimize for Fewer Cards: Explore strategies that don’t require playing all five cards. Half Joker (+20 Mult for 3 cards or less) can be really good. Splash scores points from all played cards, even if they don’t contribute to the hand. This synergizes well with enhanced cards.
• Four Fingers: This joker lets you score Straights and Flushes with only four cards. It pairs well with Splash, maximizing point gain from every card.

There’s still a ton to learn in this crazy card game, but hopefully this helps some newbies out there not tilt too hard in the first few blinds.