Balatro is a game that heavily leans on randomness, making luck a crucial factor in achieving success. As you progress and unlock more features, the game becomes increasingly challenging, requiring strategic thinking to outwit your opponents.

When devising a winning strategy in Balatro, certain fundamental principles remain constant: leveraging Planets to enhance your poker hands, strategically acquiring Tarots to modify your deck in advantageous ways, and most importantly, being open to adapting to new and improved strategies throughout the game. Given the game's unpredictable nature, sticking to a single strategy from the start or sticking to one throughout a run can lead to defeat.

All Flushes

Optimal with Smeared Joker or Checkered Deck

While not the ultimate strategy, All Flushes offers a straightforward approach to building a formidable deck. This strategy is particularly effective when starting with the Checkered Deck or obtaining a Smeared Joker early on. The Smeared Joker is recommended as it synergizes well with all suit-related Jokers in the game.

To execute this strategy, aim to acquire a Smeared Joker, begin with the Checkered Deck, or unify your deck by color as much as possible. Then, focus on obtaining suitable Jokers for the predominant suits in your deck. For instance, a Spades-focused deck should incorporate the Arrowhead and the Wrathful Joker.

Pair, Three Of A Kind, Four Of A Kind

Effective with Jolly, Zany, Sly, And Willy Jokers

This strategy prioritizes adaptability above all else, leveraging a lesser-known fact that can be game-changing for Balatro beginners. The Jokers that provide Chips and Mult for Pair or Three of a Kind hands also apply to larger combinations like Full House and Four of a Kind.

This strategy's drawback lies in its reliance on specific Jokers, which may not always be available. Without these key cards, the strategy loses its potency.

Pareidolia, All Face Cards

Enhanced with Scary Face, Smiley Face, Business Card, Sock and Buskin

Contrary to its name, the All-Face Cards strategy doesn't revolve around amassing numerous face cards. By utilizing the Pareidolia Joker, players can treat every card in their deck as a face card, enabling other Jokers to impact the entire deck.

Key Jokers to pair with Pareidolia include the Scary Face, boosting face card values by 30 Chips, and the Smiley Face, adding a +4 Mult. For this strategy, Sock and Buskin stand out, triggering each face-related Joker twice during scoring.

Shortcut To Straight

Optimized with Shortcut, Four Fingers, And Runner

The Shortcut Joker is a game-changer in Balatro, streamlining the process of building a Straight hand. This Joker allows skipping one rank between each card, simplifying hand scoring significantly. When combined with Four Fingers, which condenses Flushes and Straights to four cards, pursuing a Straight Flush strategy becomes viable.

Strategic planet purchases are crucial to bolstering the Straight Poker Hand, enhancing the effectiveness of this strategy further.

Ceremonial Dagger And Lots Of Money

Enhanced by Green Deck And Egg

The Ceremonial Dagger Joker, though not initially potent, can become a game-changer under specific conditions. With abundant resources or the early acquisition of the Egg Joker, the Ceremonial Dagger's value escalates significantly. This strategy, while risky, holds potential when executed correctly.

One approach is to purchase and eliminate multiple Jokers efficiently, ideally with a discount voucher. Alternatively, securing an Egg early on and strategically boosting its resell value can maximize the Ceremonial Dagger's impact on gameplay.