How to Play Balatro: A Complete Beginner’s Guide

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Learn all the rules for this popular rogue-like card game

Co-authored by Grant Cunningham and Hunter Rising

Last Updated: January 29, 2026 Fact Checked

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Gameplay Rules

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Poker Hands

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Strategies

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Best Cards

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FAQs

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Where to Play

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Video

Balatro has quickly become one of the most addictive games on computers, consoles, and phones. Even though this video game was inspired by poker, you don’t even have to know any poker rules to have fun playing. Whether you’re a beginner playing for the first time or just looking for advice to win, we’ve got you covered! Keep reading, and we’ll walk you through the basic gameplay, best cards, and winning strategies for Balatro so you can win your first run!

How to Play Balatro: The Basics

In Balatro, play cards to make poker hands and score points. Each level (Ante) has 3 rounds (Blinds) that have minimum score requirements you need to reach. After beating a Blind, buy Jokers and cards to gain special abilities for the rest of your run. If you make it through all the Blinds and finish Ante 8, you win!

Section 1 of 6:

Basic Rules for Balatro

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Choose a deck and difficulty level. At the start of a new run of Balatro, your deck and “stake” (difficulty) change the rules of the game. If it’s your first time playing, only the Red Deck and the White Stake are available, but more decks and difficulties unlock as you keep playing.^{[1]
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- Each run generates a specific string of letters and numbers. If you want to replay a specific run, select Seeded Run and enter the seed into the text box.
- More decks unlock when you discover new items or win runs.
- New stakes are available after you beat a run on the previous difficulty.
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Select a Blind to play against. Balatro runs are split into sections called Antes that each have 3 levels called Blinds. Each Blind has a specific score requirement you have to meet in order to defeat it. Normally, you’ll play the Small Blind, Big Blind, and Boss Blind in order to earn reward money.^{[2]
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- You may also choose to skip the Small and Big Blinds to earn the Tag listed at the bottom. Tags grant powerful one-time abilities that can change the outcomes of your run.
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Play poker hands to earn points during a Blind. When you start a blind, you’re dealt 8 cards and can choose 5 of them to make a standard poker hand. Cards you play earn chips based on their values and add a multiplier based on the poker hand.^{[3]
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Expert Interview} If you’re able to meet the minimum score requirement before you run out of hands, you defeat the Blind and earn reward money.^{[4]
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- You normally can play 3 hands when you choose a Blind, but certain decks, cards, and Blinds can change how many you have.
- You also have discards available where you can get rid of up to 5 cards and draw new ones from your deck.
- For more details on possible hands and their base scores, jump to our poker hand section.
- If you don’t meet the minimum score for the blind, then you immediately lose your run.
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Purchase Jokers and new cards between Blinds. After you defeat a Blind, you get to visit the shop and spend the money you earned. Hover over cards to see their price and click Buy to purchase them. The shop items are randomized each time, but the common items available are:^{[5]
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- Jokers: Cards with abilities that change the rules of the game. You can have 5 Jokers by default.
- Planet Cards: One-time-use cards that increase the chips and multiplier for a specific poker hand
- Tarot Cards: One-time-use cards that have abilities, like transforming cards, making copies of cards, and earning money.
- Booster Packs: Packs that contain multiple cards, Jokers, Planets, or Tarots. You get to choose which card(s) you take.
- Vouchers: Abilities that power up the rest of your run. Vouchers have abilities like increasing your hand size or discounted shop items.
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Defeat a Boss Blind to move to the next Ante. The Boss Blind is the final challenge of every Ante, and it has a special ability that restricts how you play. It may limit what suits score points, or it may hide cards from you. If you’re able to reach the minimum score before you run out of hands, you defeat the Boss Blind and move on to the next Ante.^{[6]
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- Boss Blinds are completely random each game.
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Win a run by defeating Ante 8. Each Ante increases the minimum score you need to win each Blind. As you buy new items that form scoring combos, your hands will become more powerful and earn you more points. Once you beat the Boss Blind on Ante 8, you beat the run!^{[7]
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- After you beat a run, exit to the menu or continue playing additional antes to see how far you get.

Section 2 of 6:

Balatro Poker Hands

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Standard poker hands Balatro uses 5-card poker hands to score points. Each hand starts at level 1 with a base amount of Chips and Mult (multipliers), but you can upgrade them with Planet cards. The standard Poker hands and their base score are:^{[8]
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- High Card: 5 Chips x 1 Mult
  - The highest rank card if you can’t make any other hand
- Pair: 10 Chips x 2 Mult
  - 2 cards of the same rank
- Two Pair: 20 Chips x 2 Mult
  - 2 cards of the same rank and 2 cards of another matching rank
- Three of a Kind: 30 Chips x 3 Mult
  - 3 cards of the same rank
- Straight: 30 Chips x 4 Mult
  - 5 cards in consecutive rank order
- Flush: 35 Chips x 4 Mult
  - 5 cards of a matching suit
- Full House: 40 Chips x 4 Mult
  - 3 cards of one rank, and 2 cards of another rank
- Four of a Kind: 60 Chips x 7 Mult
  - 4 cards of the same rank
- Straight Flush: 100 Chips x 8 Mult
  - 5 cards of the same suit in consecutive rank order
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Secret poker hands Throughout your run, you can alter your deck to make poker hands that aren’t normally possible in a game. These secret hands earn the most points in the game, so aiming for these hands is a good way to get a high score.^{[9]
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- Five of a Kind: 120 Chips x 12 Mult
  - 5 cards of the same rank
- Flush House: 140 Chips x 14 Mult
  - 3 cards of one rank and 2 cards of a different rank, all in the same suit
- Flush Five: 160 Chips x 16 Mult
  - 5 cards with the same rank and same suit

Section 3 of 6:

General Balatro Strategies

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Discard cards to cycle through your deck. If you’re not able to make a high-scoring hand with the cards you’re dealt, use a discard if you have one available. Choose up to 5 cards you want to get rid of so you can draw new cards.
- Example: If you have 4 Hearts, you may discard the other 4 cards and try going for a Flush.
- Hold onto your higher-valued cards when you discard because they earn more Chips in a pinch.
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Save money early in your run. Even though it may be tempting to spend your money at the shop early on, try to save as much as you can. If you have at least $5 in your bank at the end of a Blind, you earn additional money as interest. Interest adds up quickly, so you can afford more expensive and rarer cards later on.^{[10]
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Select a balance of Jokers that add Chips and Mult. The Jokers you choose during your run have a big influence on your score. Pick some Jokers that increase the number of Chips you earn and some that increase your Mult. That way, your score can skyrocket with each hand.^{[11]
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- To learn what Jokers are the most helpful, jump down to our section on the best cards.
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Always double-check Joker abilities to make sure they work together. Some Jokers have abilities that synergize with each other and create high-scoring hands. However, some pairs don’t work well together if their powers conflict with each other. As you add Jokers, hover over their abilities to make sure they don’t counteract one another.
- Example: If a Joker gives you a bonus for having leftover discards like Banner, avoid choosing a Joker that gives you a bonus for using all your discards, like Mystic Summit.
- If you ever don’t want one of the Jokers you have, sell it to make room for a different one.
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Rearrange your Jokers to maximize your points. Jokers trigger from left to right, so their order matters for building the strongest combos. Click and drag a joker to move it around. Put all of the Jokers that add Chips on the left and the ones that add Mult to the right for the simplest layout.^{[12]
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- Example: If you have Pareidolia that makes all cards face cards, put it to the left of Scary Face that adds 30 Chips for every face card in your hand.
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Use the “Sort Hand” feature to guess face-down cards. Some Boss Blinds will cause you to draw face-down cards that you can’t see before playing them. Switch between the “Rank” and “Suit” sort options to reorganize your cards. Depending on where the cards move, you may be able to guess what’s face-down.
- Example: If a face-down card is on the far left side when you sort by rank, and it’s between an Ace of Spades and 10 of Spades when you sort by Suit, you can assume the card is the Jack or Queen of Spades.
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Hold onto Tarot or Spectral cards for emergencies. Tarot and Spectral cards offer powerful abilities that can change your cards and help you out when you’re stuck. Instead of using the cards right away, keep them for when you need to make a strong hand and are out of discards.^{[13]
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- Example: If you only have 2 Hearts in your hand, you could use The Sun to transform 3 other cards into Hearts to create a Flush instantly.
- You start with 2 slots for Tarot and Spectral cards, but you can get upgrades during your run that let you hold more.
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Keep your eye on the cards left in your deck. When you’re playing through the run, click on your deck of cards in the bottom-right of the screen. Any card that’s already been dealt to your hand will look grayed out, and all the other cards are still in your deck. If you’re hoping to get a specific card or poker hand, double-check that the cards you need are still available.^{[14]
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Stay open to changing your strategy. You never know what cards will appear in the shop and what Blinds you’ll be facing, so be willing to adapt on the fly if your first strategy isn’t working. Look at what cards are available and look for the best combos you can make for the time being.^{[15]
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- Don’t forget to reroll the shop if you don’t see any items that look helpful.

Section 4 of 6:

Best Cards in Balatro

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Jokers There are 150 different Jokers, and they all have different rules for how they change the game. Keep your eye out for these Jokers that can help boost your money and earn more points.^{[16]
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- Cloud 9: Score $1 for each 9 in your deck at the end of the round.
- Baron: Each King held in your hand gives x1.5 Mult.
- Cavendish: x3 Mult, 1 in 1,000 chance the card is destroyed at the end of the round
- Blueprint: Copy the ability of the Joker to the right.
- Obelisk: Gain x0.2 Mult per consecutive hand played without using your most played hand
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Planets Planets upgrade the level of a poker hand so it earns more Chips and Mult. The best Planets have the highest increases between levels, and they’re often for the most common hands you’ll play.^{[17]
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- Pluto: Increase High Card by +1 Mult and + 10 Chips
- Mercury: Increase Pair by +1 Mult and +15 Chips
- Jupiter: Increase Flush by +2 Mult and +15 Chips
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Tarot Tarot cards can transform cards in your deck, give you more money, or create even more cards. Tarot cards are one-time-use, and you only have 2 slots during your run, so it’s important to save room for the strongest cards.^{[18]
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- The Fool: Create a copy of the last Tarot or Planet card you played.
- The Hermit: Double your money (with a maximum of $20)
- Death: Select 2 cards, and then convert the left card into the right card.
- The Emperor: Create 2 random Tarot Cards
- The Chariot: Enhance 1 card into a Steel card (1.5x Mult when held in hand)
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Vouchers When you gain a Voucher, it permanently changes a rule in the game for the rest of the round. Only 1 Voucher is available during each Ante, but these ones are must-buys if they appear in the shop.^{[19]
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- Grabber: +1 hand per round
- Tarot Merchant: Tarot cards appear twice as frequently
- Antimatter: +1 Joker slot
- Paintbrush: +1 hand size
- Overstock: +1 card slot

Section 5 of 6:

Balatro FAQs

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Can you replay the tutorial for Balatro? You can replay the tutorial scenario when you start a new run by clicking on Seeded Run and entering “Tutorial” into the text box. While the game won’t walk you through the rules or how cards work, you can still replay the starting run.
- If you want to play through the tutorial with prompts and in-game advice, disable your Steam Cloud saves for the game. Then, delete or move the Balatro folder in the AppData/Roaming folder on your computer.
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How do you play different decks in Balatro? Each starting deck in Balatro changes the game’s rules and forces you to try different strategies. Even though the rounds of the game are randomized, try these general strategies for each deck:^{[20]
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- Red Deck: prioritize Jokers that activate on discards
- Blue Deck: use Jokers that scale on hands, and save 1 hand to earn more income
- Yellow Deck: use the extra money to earn interest and afford rare Jokers
- Green Deck: preserve your hands and discards as much as possible
- Black Deck: take temporary strength Jokers early in the game to earn points
- Magic Deck: hold onto the starting Tarot cards until you can combo them
- Nebula Deck: try to play 5-card hands that scale quickly from Planet cards
- Ghost Deck: use the Hex card on a powerful Joker to prevent it from getting destroyed
- Abandoned Deck: pick Jokers that boost lower-value card chips and multipliers
- Checkered Deck: prioritize boosting and playing flushes
- Zodiac Deck: choose Jokers that synergize with Tarot or Planet cards
- Painted Deck: choose Jokers that require specific cards because you’re more likely to draw them
- Anaglyph Deck: skip blinds that have powerful tags to make Jokers and cards stronger
- Plasma Deck: pick Jokers that add a lot of chips or mult to your score
- Erratic Deck: check your deck makeup before buying Jokers to see what builds to aim for
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Is there an end to Balatro? While you can technically beat a Balatro run after defeating Ante 8’s Boss Blind, you can continue playing an endless run of the game to see how far you can get. Each ante gets more difficult with higher point requirements, so it’s more challenging as you go on.
- If you’re trying to 100% the game, then you must unlock all the cards, decks, and difficulties.
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Can you play Balatro in real life? No, Balatro is only a digital game because tracking Joker powers and hand scores can be difficult. Even though there’s an official Balatro deck you can buy IRL, it’s just a standard deck of cards with a few of the Jokers from the game as special cards.

Section 6 of 6:

Where to Play Balatro

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Balatro is available on PC, Mac, mobile, and consoles. Balatro was originally released for PC and Mac, but it became so popular that it became available on other platforms. Balatro is compatible with iOS, Android, PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch, Switch 2, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. You can purchase Balatro from the following storefronts: