The Balatro Thread

[Touring Mars]

Ooft - I had my first proper 'bug' in a game of Balatro just now.

I had 2 Hearts in my hand, but I also had a Sun tarot card, so converted 3 other cards to Hearts to make a Flush.

I played it, not noticing the bug - it only counted the original two cards as Hearts which happened to be the same Rank (Kings), so it classified the Hand as a Pair... luckily it didn't kill my game, but I would have been super angry if it had!!

 

[Touring Mars]

Misprint is one of my favourite but also one of the most frustrating jokers in the game IMO.

It gave me three 0 Mults in 4 hands just now, one of which was in the last round (Ante 8 Boss), which I ended up losing

But... it is still one of the most powerful Jokers due to its hidden power of showing which card is going to be dealt next.

 

[Touring Mars]

Two fun games today...

Lost the 1st in the last round against Cerulean Bell - but I was extremely unlucky.

I had one hand and one discard left and only needed 3oaK (with NO other cards....) to win.

I was holding 10* 9 9 9 3 3 3 3, but the 10 was the compulsory card... so, I discarded it, only needing anything but the new card to be the new compulsory card so I could play 3oaK alone and get the necessary 20 Mult bonus for only playing 3 cards (which I needed to score enough to win on the final hand). Unbelievably, I drew another 10 and it was selected as the compulsory card. I was forced to play 3oaK but with a 10 tagged on, and lost by less than 20,000.

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My 2nd game was great - and I finally beat Black deck on the Green stake after multiple attempts.

I had a cool Joker deck, which included Triboulet, Seeing Double, Stencil and Joker (Poly).

However, I then got Invisible Joker and it doubled Triboulet, and I had to sell Joker for the final Boss (Verdant Leaf),

I had loaded my deck with Kings and Queens. In the final, I got KKQQ with a Glass King, and 2 Pair on Level 7...

That was enough for 2^10 (1024X Mult) from the Triboulets alone, plus 2X from Seeing Double (2048X) and 3X from Stencil (6144X), which gave me a Mult of something on the order of 43,000 Suffice it to say that was enough to win...

 

[Touring Mars]

I beat Plasma Deck on Green stake on my iPad just now... first attempt, though it was a tricky game that I only won by playing well and a very handy Joker deck that included both Brainstorm and Blueprint, each of which was used to copy Bull, which coupled with a healthy economy gave me a ton of chips.

Over the last few days I've tried the same game (Plasma/Green) on the PS5 night on 10 times and have been beaten every time... it is surprisingly difficult and I think Plasma in particular requires a pretty specific sequence of Jokers to work.

I finally won by sticking to the old favourite "Two Pairs", but I also got a bit lucky with not one but two Boss Re-Rolls in the final Ante, which I had to use twice in order to give me 'Amber Acorn' as the Ante 8 Boss...

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edit:

Yay! I FINALLY beat Plasma deck on Green stake on the PS5... I had 5 Uncommon Jokers and Baseball Joker, but it was still a bit tight. Once again, I needed to reroll the Ante 8 Boss to avoid Cerulean Bell (a pet hate of mine), but got Crimson Heart which is not much better - however, I played it pretty well and had Full Houses levelled up, backed up with Two Pairs levelled up as well. I only needed the avoid Baseball being disabled in the final hand, and fortunately for me it was not, so I ended up winning on the final hand.

 

[Touring Mars]

I went to Glasgow today and won games on both the outward and return legs of my train journey - sadly, the second win didn't register yet again - this happens far too much on the iPad, hence why my iPad stats are unlikely to ever surpass my PS5 stats.

Otherwise it was a good game - PhotoChad made all the difference... if anything, it's almost an over-powered hack, and with Chequered Deck, it was virtually impossible not to get a Flush with a Face Card needed to trigger an 8X Mult.

 

[Touring Mars]

I had my 2nd best game ever tonight - Erratic Deck, Green stake - and I managed to win with just 4 active Jokers, including Smeared Joker (which guarantees Flushes), Onxy Agate (which gives +7 Mult for every Club played); Blueprint and Card Sharp. I collected Black cards and certain numbers (Queens, 10s and 2s), which gave me Flush Houses pretty frequently.

Canio was useless until Endless mode - a combo of Glass Cards breaking and a few Hanged Man cards quickly raised Canio to a crazy 10X Mult; which, coupled with Blueprint and Card Sharp was yielding a massive 300X... enough to get me to Round 32 for only the second time.

Alas, the Ante 11 boss (which I'd already beaten once) was horrible and I didn't have enough cash left to reroll it enough times to get a good boss; in hindsight, I shouldn't have rerolled at all, as the original boss was The Ox, which would have cost me all my money, but would have been much easier to beat than all the other ones I got. But still, a great game, and my best hand was 72,000,000!!

Spoiler

Looking through my records, my longest ever game was Round 34, and that was my last game before my cancer diagnosis...

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And another unique game today where I somehow got Flush up to Level 69 😅...

 

[Wilsonson]

I finally beat gold stakes on the green deck. More money for left over hands and even left over discards but no interest. Makes for a weird dynamic.

Beat it with these final jokers.

Raised fist with mime plus many steel cards did it.

 

[Touring Mars]

I beat Yellow Deck on Gold Stakes tonight - after beating it on Orange Stakes last night.

I have been playing catch-up on my iPad, but have been having a run of poor games; so I switched to my PS5 and that's two brilliant games in a row, both on Yellow Deck. For some reason, when things are going well, it just feels like everything is so easy - and other times absolutely nothing goes your way, and the game is a constant struggle. My last two games on Yellow Deck, however, have been joyous. Both games got a Legendary joker - they make a BIG difference!!

Last night, I got Canio - and got it up to 9X I also had PhotoChad, and with some glass Face cards, I was scoring hugely and beat the final boss by a country mile.

Tonight I got Triboulet - arguably the best card in the game; I also had Bloodstone, and collected Ks and Qs of Hearts, amassing 11 of them by the end, and scoring big time on Heart flushes. It's also the first game I've ever played Loyalty, and I played it smartly, triggering it just in time for the Boss Blind. Ante 8 was also easy - Amber Acorn (always my favourite!), and I beat it in one hand

 

[Wilsonson]

I have never taken loyalty card ever. Never occured to me that you could manipulate it by playing extra hands to get it to trigger when you need it. Will try it next time. Well done on your good run.

I am still biting my teeth at black deck. The good streamers call it the hardest deck to consistently beat. The one less hand (and the less extra dollar each round) make it super hard to survive the early rounds and get an economy going. Extra joker only comes in handy when you're already doing well anyways.

 

[Touring Mars]

I made a list of my most successful Jokers across two platforms:

1=: Hologram (U), Supernova (C), Throwback (U) - 15 pts (🥇, 🟠)
4: Bloodstone (U) - 14 pts (🥇, 🟣)
5: The Trio (R) - 14 pts (🟠, 🟠)
6: Abstract (C) - 13 pts (🥇, 🔵)
7: Baseball (U) - 13 pts (🟠, 🟣)
8=: DNA (U), Hanging Chad (C) - 12 pts (🥇, ⚫)
10: Misprint (C) - 12 pts (🟠, 🔵)

The Trio is fast becoming a favourite - but Throwback is probably the best, not least because it gains strength even when you don't have it; Hologram is very powerful, but depends when you get it. Hanging Chad is normally good, but needs to be coupled either with Photograph (for PhotoChad) or with Glass Cards and/or Red Seal cards. Misprint is also super handy, and I often take it over a higher paying Joker just because of its hidden ability. Bloodstone can be super powerful, but it can also be a let down - but when coupled with 'Oops, All 6s' and a deck stacked with Hearts, it's very strong indeed - until Hearts are debuffed, that is!

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I am still biting my teeth at black deck. The good streamers call it the hardest deck to consistently beat. The one less hand (and the less extra dollar each round) make it super hard to survive the early rounds and get an economy going. Extra joker only comes in handy when you're already doing well anyways.

Black Deck is probably my least favourite as well - it's my lowest ranked deck of both my PS5 and iPad games!

 

[Touring Mars]

After a horrible run of bad games, I have had 4 wins in the last 24 hours, including 3 really special games.

The first one was a minor miracle that I won. I had Crimson Heart as the Final Boss, and was sunk if it disabled my only really strong Joker, Spare Trousers (+74 Mult). Amazingly it spared me, and I won the game by just 4% over the line.

Last night, I played my first game with 'Wee Joker', but started collecting 2s and quickly it ended up getting really strong. It ended giving me a bonus of 1112 Chips 😅 Amazingly, I had no X# Mult Jokers in my deck at all, and won by spamming 5oaK in 2s - I ended up with 25 twos in a deck of just 48 😅

And tonight, I had another tight win, but this time I had to really think about it, and ride my luck a bit. I had Stencil Joker and originally intended on trying to tough it out with just that and, say, Hologram or Throwback. I used Chaos The Clown to find Throwback nice and early, and I was winning easily with multiple Ks giving me 4oaK - but I got Crimson Heart again, and the maths just didn't add up; but I knew that other Bosses would kill me, so I had to try and beat it. It debuffed Half Joker (1.5X), so I ended up selling it, which pushed Stencil from 2X to 3X, and that won me the game with just one hand to spare. It was probably my 'best' game, figuring out how to bear the Boss against seemingly too high a target.

So after hating the game a few days ago, I'm now back to loving it... until the next run of defeats 😅

 

[Touring Mars]

I golded Blue Deck this evening...

I knew from the start that I was in with a great shot at finally beating it, as my first joker was a free Polychrome Photograph... closely followed by Throwback. I also got some good money near the start, and bought an extra Hand early on, giving me 6 Hands and 2 Discards. All I needed to cap the game off was Hanging Chad, which duly arrived, and Holographic as well. I then got Brainstorm, and levelled up 3oaK such that I was scoring BIG, and ended up beating Violet Vessel in one hand.

Given that I have lost two final Rounds to Violet Vessel today already, it was a very satisfying way to end the day!!

 

[Touring Mars]

I beat Black Deck (3 Hands only) on Black Stake, despite 'accidentally' playing Hieroglyph to leave me with just 2 Hands from Ante 7 onwards...

I figured I had killed my game, but my Joker deck was just reaching Nirvana, and I somehow managed to win the game. Even the Ante 8 Boss Blind Crimson Heart couldn't spoil the party.

Like a total idiot, I didn't even notice that I played the ENTIRE game (until the very last hand) without noticing that I had an extra Joker slot... but that last Joker slot made a massive difference, and I got a BIG stroke of luck when with my last few $, I got Burglar - usually an ignorable Joker, but it gave me 3 extra Hands for the final, and I only needed Pairs or 3oaK to win - plus, Burglar is Uncommon, and I had Baseball - so it added a tonne more points well.

So I've officially beaten a game with just 2 Hands ✋✋

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I think the game conspired against me in the final Round - I only needed 3oaK, and had 14 cards in my Hand and 2 Discards. I got plenty of pairs but no 3oaK so I was stuffed - BUT, I had a lifeline... I had a Magician card and was holding a Stone Card in my hand; I used Magician on it in the hope that it would turn into a number that would give me 3oaK but alas it didn't; but it was a great idea and so nearly saved me game. Still, I don't get to Round 29 very often!!

 

[Wilsonson]

I've been banging my head on Black Deck Gold Stakes forever now. Will try a new deck I guess and come back to it later.

 

[Touring Mars]

I've been banging my head on Black Deck Gold Stakes forever now. Will try a new deck I guess and come back to it later.

Good plan - I always alternate between games, and it sometimes feels like the game is thinking "Please go away and come back some other time!". 😅

Great job on getting to Gold Stake on Black Deck though - I'm still nowhere near there.

Since you pointed it out, I'm really noticing the difference with the economy at the start of the game - really tough! I always try to beat the very first round in a single hand, usually a Flush and it needs to add up to 40 to win; I would even discard lower cards of the right suit just to get a high enough Flush to save that $1, which at the start of the game can mean the difference between getting a Joker and not getting one.

 

[Touring Mars]

I had an epic game tonight (Anaglyph deck, Purple Stake) where I had 15 Jokers 😅

Half of them were pretty much useless, but Mime showed it's true strength, and once again PhotoChad was all powerful.

I ended on Ante 12, Round 30 - only the 3rd time I've reached R30!

 

[Wilsonson]

I have only recently started the challenges. Had a perfect setup for the Medusa challenge where you start with the Marble Joker that generates a new stone card every time.

I got the Stone Joker for an additional 25 chips for each stone card in the deck as well as the Hologram which leveled up to 5.5x by the end. I started out playing pairs at the beginning but after the Stone I one shot every hand with high card without Card Sharp even coming online. The Driver's License was a perfect fit as well of course with all the stone cards.

 

[Touring Mars]

I had two fun games last night, one short and unsuccessful, and one win on Purple Stake (Painted Deck).

In the first one, I had a very unusual combo of Jokers - Burglar, Vampire and Midas Mask... all Jokers I don't typically like/use.

But... Vampire was removing buffs from cards, increasing the X Mult by 0.1 per card... but Midas Mask was converting debuffed cards to Gold cards (itself a buff) immediately. As a bonus, Burglar meant I had 8 Hands per Round, so Vampire was increasing in strength very rapidly... I think I got to Ante 4, and Vampire was already at 4.5X... sadly, however, it wasn't enough to save my game, and I doubt I'll see that combo again; but it's a great combo to look out for in the future!

 

[Wilsonson]

I recently had Vampire plus Midas Mask too. It is quite interesting and fun.

 

[Touring Mars]

I won my 4th Gold game - on Abandoned Deck this time.

I only had 3 Jokers - Sly (Polychrome, Eternal, Rental), and 2 copies of Joker Stencil at 4X Mult each 😅

It was a pretty marginal game, and I only won by virtue of a last minute purchase of Director's Cut to allow me to avoid Violet Vessel (which I would have lost to), and I lucked out and got Amber Acorn, which given my Jokers, had zero effect!

 

[Wilsonson]

I had two incredible games today. In the first I managed to win gold stakes on the magic deck. You start with crystal ball voucher for a third consumable slot and also 2 fools straight away. My strategy used to be to wait for Hermit and get another 40 bucks.

This time I started out with an eternal Half joker and went with pair planets for the fools. I did ok and then was presented with Madness relatively early. Would I be able to make it through the next few rounds if I let it destroy all my other jokers? I intentionally bought some extra jokers to minimize the chances of it destroying the good ones.

The free parking helped my economy because I often played many pairs to make it through a round and got lots of money this way. The nat negative Chad was a cherry on top. It didn't do too much because my deck didn't have many fancy cards but I had the money and got it anyways.

I however managed to get a ton of blue seals and often ended up with 3 planet cards at the end of a round.

Ultimately Halfsie and Madness plus the pair planets did all the scoring.

I got the 2 jokers on the right at the very end simply to put a gold sticker on them.

After this game I though why not try the dreaded black deck gold stake once more. Gave myself a single try before going to bed. This would be over quick. Well bed time had to wait because I managed to win this one too! Unbelievable.

Baseball card with 3 uncommons plus photo Chad plus some lucky cards with oops all sixes worked very well. In the end I kept a justice card in hand to get a glass face card. That helped me to beat the violet vessel which is 3x the normal boss blind score. I played flushes all the way with the smeared joker to essentially only have 2 suits. Holographic Sock and buskin (which is uncommon for baseball) was the final piece that made this deck a winner.

Other than Photo Chad all jokers got a new gold sticker as well. Why do I mention the gold stickers? Well I guess I'm delusional and would like to get Completionist++ one day where you need a gold sticker on every single joker.

 

[Touring Mars]

I had two incredible games today. In the first I managed to win gold stakes on the magic deck. You start with crystal ball voucher for a third consumable slot and also 2 fools straight away. My strategy used to be to wait for Hermit and get another 40 bucks.

This time I started out with an eternal Half joker and went with pair planets for the fools. I did ok and then was presented with Madness relatively early. Would I be able to make it through the next few rounds if I let it destroy all my other jokers? I intentionally bought some extra jokers to minimize the chances of it destroying the good ones.

The free parking helped my economy because I often played many pairs to make it through a round and got lots of money this way. The nat negative Chad was a cherry on top. It didn't do too much because my deck didn't have many fancy cards but I had the money and got it anyways.

I however managed to get a ton of blue seals and often ended up with 3 planet cards at the end of a round.

Ultimately Halfsie and Madness plus the pair planets did all the scoring.

I got the 2 jokers on the right at the very end simply to put a gold sticker on them.

View attachment 1541148

After this game I though why not try the dreaded black deck gold stake once more. Gave myself a single try before going to bed. This would be over quick. Well bed time had to wait because I managed to win this one too! Unbelievable.

Baseball card with 3 uncommons plus photo Chad plus some lucky cards with oops all sixes worked very well. In the end I kept a justice card in hand to get a glass face card. That helped me to beat the violet vessel which is 3x the normal boss blind score. I played flushes all the way with the smeared joker to essentially only have 2 suits. Holographic Sock and buskin (which is uncommon for baseball) was the final piece that made this deck a winner.

Other than Photo Chad all jokers got a new gold sticker as well. Why do I mention the gold stickers? Well I guess I'm delusional and would like to get Completionist++ one day where you need a gold sticker on every single joker.

View attachment 1541155

Amazing!! Well done! 🥇🥇