Poker Hands

Poker hands are the bread and butter of Balatro. They are what you use to score your base score that is then made better by the jokers. They are constructed based on what is in your hand at that given time. You may use your hands and discards to help fish for the hands you want. Some are easier to make than others, every hand has a high card but not every hand will start with a flush or straight, meaning eventually you’ll need to make them with hands and discards. The harder the hand to make, the higher the base score for that hand. All of these base scores can be upgraded with different planet cards that correspond with a certain hand, so Jupiter for flushes and Saturn for straights. These can be found in packs in the shop, rerolling the shop, the empress tarot card and blue seals.

However, just because a poker hand is harder to get or has a higher score doesn’t make it better. And the opposite is true, just because a hand is easier to make or has a low base score doesn’t make it worthless. They are tools in your tool box to be used, even if your build is based on a single hand type, other hand types can still come in handy at the right moments. I have made posts going over each hand, saying their strengths, weaknesses, what jokers work best with them and how to best fix for them.