Balatro might seem reminiscent of poker, causing some potential players to hesitate. However, as someone deeply invested in Balatro, I aim to debunk misconceptions about the game, perhaps even igniting your interest to the point of dreaming about it.
Do I Need to Understand Poker to Play Balatro?
No, and here’s why:
Balatro is Not Poker
Comparing Balatro to poker is akin to likening Call of Duty to Bayonetta solely because both feature protagonists wielding guns. While both may involve firearms, they diverge significantly in playstyle, aesthetics, and required skills.
While Balatro employs poker cards and hand rankings initially, it veers dramatically from traditional poker rules after the first round. When I began playing Balatro, I had minimal knowledge of poker. Although familiar with a few hands, I lacked understanding regarding their scoring.
Balatro provides a handy reference sheet outlining the value of each hand. However, these hands deviate substantially from standard poker hands due to their Chip and Mult modifiers. These modifiers, absent in traditional poker, can elevate hand values to extraordinary levels, with a mere pair potentially surpassing the worth of a royal flush by hundreds of times.
Balatro IS a Game of ‘Joker’ Synergies
In the screenshot above, I utilize Jokers that alter my hand’s dynamics. One Joker provides a flat Mult (multiplier of my chip count for the hand) based on the number of Jokers I possess. Another replicates the adjacent Joker’s ability, tripling the entire score if I play the same hand multiple times in a round. The subsequent Joker yields another x3 multiplier due to the presence of “Enhanced” cards. Finally, the rightmost card offers an additional x1.5 multiplier based on cards of a specific, changing suit.
Collectively, these modifiers could potentially inflate my score to over a million points by playing pairs alone. Notably, this isn’t achieved through flushes or straights but pairs. While a bit of luck may be necessary, along with a few decent initial “poker” hands, strategic planning can transform your Balatro sessions into personalized, unconventional renditions of poker.
