Balatro: Guide to Jokers

Jokers give permanent modifiers to your cards, which are extremely powerful and are a core part of the gameplay. They belong outside of the deck and are played alongside standard cards. You must have a solid foundation of synergizing Jokers supporting you to overcome the astronomically high antes in the late game. In this guide, we’ll be discussing some of the best Jokers in Balatro and how you can unlock them.

Best Jokers

1. Hack ($6) Uncommon

Retriggers every played 2, 3, 4, and 5 cards.

A very powerful build-defining Joker that lets you score high numbers, especially when combined with Fibonacci.

2. DNA ($8) Rare

If the first hand of the round has only 1 card, add a permanent copy of it to your deck and draw it.

DNA lets you create copies of powerful cards and add them to your deck. By the endgame, you can potentially have 6-10 copies, if not more, of your key card that can singlehandedly win you the game.

3. Cavendish ($4) Common

The card has a 1 in 1000 chance of getting destroyed on the round end but also grants you x3 Mult.

+3 Mult is always a good buy with no downsides. However, it only appears in the shop if Gros Michel is destroyed by its 1 in 4 chance effect.

4. Hologram ($7) Uncommon

Gives x1 Mult on start and grants 0.25x Mult per playing card added to your deck.

There are several ways you can add cards to your deck, making Hologram one of the best Jokers in the game to add score multipliers consistently.

5. Baron ($8) Rare

Gain 1.5x Mult for every King in hand.

Baron is a staple Joker in Infinite Runs. It also synergizes with Hack as you’ll mostly play numbered cards, and have the kings in your hand to stack multipliers.

6. Sock and Buskin ($6) Uncommon

Face cards retrigger an additional time.

Retrigger effects are invaluable in Balatro, making Sock and Buskin a must-pick, especially if you’re running a face card build.

7. Blueprint Joker ($10) Rare

Copy the abilities of a Joker to the right.

Blueprint synergies with every Joker build. Having two Sock and Buskins or Hacks lets you farm high Ante score requirements with little to no difficulty.

8. Brainstorm ($10) Rare

Copy the abilities of the leftmost Joker.

Similar to Blueprint and equally effective.

9. Triboulet (Spectral) Legendary

Grants x2 Mult when playing and scoring with Kings and Queens.

A must-have card in every face build.

10. Perkeo (Spectral) Legendary

Create a Negative copy of a consumable card that you own at the end of the shop.

Perkeo is like a value printing machine. Gaining Negative copies of a consumable card almost feels like cheating as you infinitely stack your deck and reach scores in the trillions.

How to Unlock New Jokers

As of writing this article, there are a total of 150 Jokers, 105 of which are unlocked from the beginning. The rest you can unlock by meeting certain conditions.

1. Golden Ticket

Condition – Play a 5-card hand of only Gold cards.

Effect – Gold cars grant $3 when played.

2. Mr. Bones

Condition – Lose 5 runs.

Effect – Prevents Death if you meet 25% of the blind score. Destroys itself after the effect triggers.

3. Acrobat

Condition – Play 200 hands.

Effect – Grants x3 Mult on the round’s final hand.

4. Sock and Buskin

Condition – Play 300 face cards.

Effect – Retriggers all face cards an extra time.

5. Swashbuckler

Condition – Sell 20 Jokers.

Effect – Sums up the sell value of all Joker cards left of this to your Mult.

6. Troubadour

Condition – Use a single hand to win five consecutive rounds (excludes discards).

Effect – Grants +2 hand size but -1 hand per round played.

7. Certificate

Condition – Get a Gold card with a Gold seal.

Effect – Add a random playing card to hand on round start.

8. Smeared Joker

Condition – Collect three or more Wild Cards in your deck.

Effect – Spades and Clubs are considered the same suit. Similarly, Diamonds and Hearts count as the same suit.

9. Throwback

Condition – Continue a saved run.

Effect – Start off with x1 Mult and gain x0.25 Mult for every skipped Blind this run.

10. Handing Chad

Condition – Use a High Card hand to defeat a Boss Blind.

Effect – While scoring, retrigger the first played card.

11. Rough Gem

Condition – Have 30 Diamonds in the deck.

Effect – When scoring while playing Diamond cards, gain $1 (per card).

12. Bloodstone

Condition – Have 30 Hearts in the deck.

Effect – When scoring while playing Heart cards, 1 in 3 chance of getting x2 Mult (per card).

13. Arrowhead

Condition – Have 30 Spades in the deck.

Effect – When scoring while playing Spade cards, +50 chips.

14. Onyx Agate

Condition – Have 30 Clubs in the deck.

Effect – When scoring while playing Heart cards, +8 Mult.

15. Glass Joker

Condition – The deck must have 5 or more Glass cards.

Effect – Start with x1 Mult and gain x0.25 Mult for every destroyed Glass Card.

16. Showman

Condition – Reach Ante 4.

Effect – Planet, Tarot, Joker, and Spectral cards may appear several times in the shop.

17. Flower Pot

Condition – Reach Ante 8.

Effect – If the scoring hand has a Diamond, Heart, Club, and Spade card, get x3 Mult.

18. Blueprint

Condition – Win a run.

Effect – Copies the Joker’s ability to the right.

19. Wee Joker

Condition – Win a run with 18 or fewer rounds.

Effect – Joker starts off at +10 chips and gains +8 chips for every 2 cards that score when played.

20. Merry Andy

Condition – Win a run with 12 or fewer rounds.

Effect – Gain +3 discards, but also -1 hand size.

21. Oops! All 6s

Condition – Earn 10,000 chips in a single hand.

Effect – Doubles the probabilities of every chance event during the run.

22. The Idol

Condition – Earn 1,000,000 chips in a single hand.

Effect – Each played <card> grants x2 Mult. The specific card changes every round.

23. Seeing Double

Condition – Play four 7 of clubs in one hand.

Effect – If the scoring hand has a card of any suit and a Club, gain x2 Mult.

24. Matador

Condition – Use a single hand and don’t use Discards to defeat a boss blind.

Effect – Gain $8 if the Boss Blind is triggered by your played hand.

25. Hit the Road

Condition – Discard 5 Jacks at a time.

Effect – x0.5 Mult for every discarded Jack this round.

26. The Duo

Condition – Win a run without playing Pairs.

Effect – Hands containing a Pair grant x2 Mult.

27. The Trio

Condition – Win a run without playing Three of a Kinds.

Effect – Hands containing a Three of a Kind grant x3 Mult.

28. The Family

Condition – Win a run without playing Four of a Kinds.

Effect – Hands containing a Fou of a Kind grant x4 Mult.

29. The Order

Condition – Win a run without playing Straights.

Effect – Hands containing a Straight grant x3 Mult.

30. The Tribe

Condition – Win a run without playing Flushes.

Effect – Hands containing a Flush grant x2 Mult.

31. Stuntman

Condition – Earn 100 million chips with one hand.

Effect – -2 hand size but also grants +300 chips.

32. Invisible Joker

Condition – WIn a run with 4 or less Jokers.

Effect – Sell this Joker after three rounds to duplicate a random Joker (Doesn’t copy Negative).

33. Brainstorm

Condition – Discard a Royal Flush.

Effect – Copies the ability of the leftmost joker.

34. Satellite

Condition – Coolest $400.

Effect – For every unique Planet Card used during the run, gain $1 at the end of every round.

35. Shoot the Moon

Condition – Play every Heart card in the deck in one rebound (including extras).

Effect – For every Queen in your hand, get +13 Mult.

36. Driver’s License

Condition – Enhance 16 cards in your deck.

Effect – If you have 16 or more enhanced cards in your deck, always +3 Mult.

37. Cardomancer

Condition – Discover your first Taror card.

Effect – Whenever you select a Blind, create a Tarot card.

38. Astronomer

Condition – Discover your first Planet card. All Celestial Packs and Planet cards in the shop are free.

Effect –

39. Burnt Joker

Condition – Sell at least 50 cards.

Effect – Every round, upgrade the level of the first discarded poker hand.

40. Bootstraps

Condition – Have two active Polychrome Jokers on board.

Effect – For every $5 you have, gain +2 Mult.

41. Canio