Just like in poker, winning runs in Balatro can come down to knowledge and luck. While I can't help you pull the perfect cards from your deck at the right time, I can provide you with six tips for improving your knowledge and preparing for tougher Blinds in Balatro.
Tips for Balatro Players
These six Balatro tips will have you finessing even the toughest Boss Blinds before you know it!
Understanding Editions, Enhancements, and Seals
Every card in your deck starts as normal cards. By opening Standard Packs and using Tarot and Spectral Cards, some cards in your deck will be given Seals, Enhancements, and Special Editions. Understanding these three variations will help you both build and use your deck properly, especially since each playing card can have one of each variation.
Card Seals in Balatro
There are four different types of Seals in Balatro. They are differentiated by color and include:
- Gold Seals - Gold Seals give the player $3 when the card they are on is used in a hand and earns chips.
- Red Seals - Cards with Red Seals will be triggered twice during play, essentially providing 2x the chips and multiplier for that card.
- Blue Seals - Keeping a card with a Blue Seal in a player's hand will give them a Planet Card at the end of each round.
- Purple Seals - When cards with Purple Seals are discarded, the player will be given a random Tarot Card.
When giving cards Seals, keep in mind how those Seals are used. If there is a high-earning card with a multiplier on it, you'll want to give that a Red Seal. Cards that remain in your hand, like Gold Cards, should be given the Blue Seal. The Gold Seals can be more freely placed on any card you play, while the Purple Seal is best placed on cards that have no value to you. Also, remember that you can use a card with a Seal in any way, but it will only give you the Seal's effect if used as designated.
Card Editions in Balatro
There are four potential Editions of cards in addition to their regular version. The first three of these Editions can be used for regular playing cards and Jokers alike, while the fourth is only used for Jokers.
The three Editions for both playing and Joker Cards are Foil, Holographic, and Polychrome Cards.
- Foil Cards add 50 Chips before the Multiplier is added.
- Holographic Cards add 10 to the Multiplier score.
- Polychrome Cards multiply the Multiplier score by 1.5.
The last variation, the Negative Edition, allows players to hold an extra Joker Card for every Negative Joker Card.
Card Enhancements in Balatro
There are a total of eight Enhancements that can be placed on cards. Add them to playing cards carefully, as some of them only work in specific ways.
From top to bottom and left to right, these enhancements are:
- Bonus Card Enhancement - Cards with the "Bonus Card" Enhancement will give an extra 30 Chips when they are played and scored. These cards will have blue arrows on their left and right sides.
- Mult Card Enhancement - Cards with the "Mult Card" Enhancement add 4 to the hand's multiplier when played and scored. These cards have a black and red pattern across the back reminiscent of mountains.
- Wild Card Enhancement - Cards turned into "Wild Cards" can be used as any card in a suit and have pixellated smudges where their suit symbol would be. Be cautious of keeping too many, as they will always be affected by Boss Blinds that rule out certain card suits.
- Glass Cards Enhancement - Enhanced "Glass Cards" will double the hand's multiplier score in exchange for having a 25% chance of being destroyed after being played. They have streaks on them like a window.
- Steel Card Enhancement - "Steel Cards" multiply the current round's multiplier by 1.5, but only if they remain in the player's hand. They look similar to "Glass Cards", but with a silver color and more streaks.
- Stone Card Enhancement - "Stone Cards" will gain a value of 50 Chips in exchange for losing their suit and number/face value. They appear like cracked stone tablets.
- Gold Card Enhancement - Enhanced "Gold Cards" give a player $3 if they remain in their hand at the end of the round. They are a brilliant gold color.
- Lucky Card Enhancement - "Lucky Cards" give players a 20% chance of adding 20 to the multiplier and a 7% chance of earning $20. They look like they are made of worn paper.
Use Special Edition Jokers to increase your rewards
Having Special Edition playing cards is a great way to increase the chips you make in a hand. These big earnings are enhanced even more if the Special Edition is on a Joker Card. While Holographic playing cards will add 10 Multiplier when they are played, Holographic Joker Cards will add that Multiplier to every single round.
Special Edition Joker Cards can be bought directly from the Shop or created using cards like the Wheel of Fortune Tarot Card. Certain Tags can increase the odds of finding Special Edition Jokers in the shop, which leads me to my next tip.
Check the available tag before Small and Big Blinds
Always look to see what Tag can be obtained by skipping a Small or Big Blind before playing it. Tags will be placed on the left side of the "Skip Blind" button at the bottom of the Blind's information. Hovering over the Tag reveals what it does.
Depending on your money, the Tag, and the Boss Blind ahead of you, it may end up being more worthwhile to skip the Blind in exchange for the Tag.
Check the Boss Blind before beginning an ante
Just like you should check the Tags before starting Small or Big Blinds, you'll want to check the Boss Blind as soon as you begin a new ante. To do so, you'll need to look at the card on the right side of the Blind Selection screen. The limitation of the Boss Blind will be shown beneath its symbol. In this image, the Boss Blind is "The Psychic", which forces you to play 5 cards every hand to gain Chips.
There are a total of 30 Boss Blinds, each with its own difficulties to overcome. Checking it from the start will help you set your deck up to defeat it.
Spend your initial runs buying new cards
This tip is mostly for beginners but also applies to experienced players when they see a new card in the shop. If you can afford a card in the shop you've never purchased, you should buy it immediately if the situation allows for it. You'll know you've never purchased the card because its title will read "Not Discovered" when you hover over it.
Buying unknown cards is crucial for the game because it allows you to unlock more Joker Cards. If you look at the locked Joker Cards, this is seen most notably in two cards. One of them can only be unlocked by purchasing every Tarot Card, while the other needs you to buy every Planet Card. Additionally, buying these cards will help you learn how they all work by making you use them directly.
Keep an eye on your Run Info
During runs, you'll come across some cards and bosses referring to your "most played poker hand". The Telescope Voucher will give you Planet Cards relating to this hand, while one of the available Boss Blinds will not let you play your most played hand. In order to see what this hand is, you'll need to tap on the "Run Info" button on the lower left of the screen.
This screen contains three tabs. The first shows the Poker Hands you've played so far in this run, the second shows you the Blinds in your current ante, and the third shows you any Vouchers you've purchased in this run. We'll focus here on the first tab. It consists of four sections.
- The level indicator, marked in red, depicts the current level of the Poker Hand.
- The column with the names of the Poker Hands is marked with a green box.
- The third section, marked in white, shows how many Chips a Poker Hand begins with and what multiplier it is given. The values of the cards and any additional multipliers are added to these values.
- The final section, marked with yellow, tells you how many times you've played a particular hand. The Poker Hand with the highest number here is your most played hand.
I recommend using the information from this screen to determine which hands need to be leveled up with Planet Cards.
For more Balatro, check out our How does ante work in Balatro guide here on Pro Game Guides.
Published: Feb 25, 2024 10:51 am