Stakes

In a traditional game, you will normally have a difficulty select at the start of a new playthrough or have no option for difficulty. In some games however, you have more dynamic difficult options like Hades with its Pact of Punishment which lets the player tune the difficulty on certain elements to make their own form of challenge. Balatro doesn’t get that loose with its difficulty but still takes a less than traditional route of difficulty with the Stake modifiers. Each Stake has a different modifier tied to it that changes how a player will experience a run. all Stakes will stack on top of one another so if you are on Black Stake, you will still have to work around the previous stakes on top of the current one.

The hard part comes on Blue Stake in my opinion however some say it really ramps up on Purple Stake. Earlier stakes are a but of a struggle as a new player, with maybe Green Stake being the roughest but with some practice they are manageable, it’s when combined with future stakes they really start to sting. Whether you are still stuck on Red Stake like a cork in a bottle, or getting your face rearranged by Gold Stake, below is a table going over each stakes modifier and how to get around them.

Appearance	Name	Modifier	How to get around
	White Stake	Base Difficulty	As the starting difficulty, there not much to say about White Stake other than it being traditional Balatro at it’s unmodified core. The challenge for this stake comes in actually learning the game and how to play. This will come in discovery and game sense. Discovering what items do and how to best use them while also learning how to adapt as a player in the moment.
	Red Stake	Small Blind gives no reward money	A simple change that will alter how you enter the shop. With Small Blinds having no money, you are getting around 1/3 less of the minimum pay you would usually get. You still gain interest and hand money so it’s not like you get nothing for playing the Small Blind. My advice for earlier Stakes would be to use Econ Jokers and learn how to money manage so when you get to higher Stakes, mainly Gold Stake, you won’t have to try remain out of debt and low amounts of money as no money means less options, less options means less deck fixing and Planet cards and so on. Some great Econ Joker to help with this would be Mail-In Rebate for its insane payout and Rocket for its scaling, passive income.
	Green Stake	Required score scales faster for each Ante	Adding double the score isn’t that hard in the grand scheme of things. If you can win consistently on Red and White Stake with hands to spare because you shoot over the score requirement, then you should be fine. If not then you need to start learning how to optimise builds, scale better and using enhancements like Steel and Glass more often. However combined with Purple it becomes worse but that’s more of a Purple Stake deal than a Green Stake deal.
	Black Stake	Shop can have Eternal Joker (Can’t be sold or destroyed)	Scary at first, but not as bad as you first think. It comes down to game sense to know what is ok to take as an Eternal and what isn’t. In some runs you might only sell a few weak, starting Jokers and keep everything else, others you might be constantly rotating your line up, depends on the run sometimes. Taking Eternals with great utility or ones that could be the center of a build are some I would take myself. While others that are harder to play with or add little value to the current run are ones I skip. Eternal Jokers also have a few benefits, not being destroyed means you can use Ankh and Hex and any Eternal will remain. Especially good with Madness as you can scale it and not have to constantly shift through Jokers like it’s a long running soap opera.
	Blue Stake	-1 Discard	Blue Stake I found to be the hardest, especially as a new and learning player. Losing access to part of a vital mechanic, -1 Discard, really hurts bigger plays, bigger hands and diggng through your deck. Shifting into Blue Stake means you must learn to Deck fix more to not have to rely on on discarding for the needed hand and see thr value in smaller hands, as they gett more effective the higher you go. Pairs and such are some of the best hands to avoid this downside but playing around it mainly comes from getting used to how to play with -1 Discard through trial error and buildng game sense.
	Purple Stake	Required score scales faster for each Ante	Adding double the score doesn’t seem so bad, until your remember that you are doubling the score of Green Stake, making every Blind and Ante, four times the score required to beat it. If you want to get around the headache of scoring, you better start learning the value of scaling, X mult and improving game sense. Upgrading easier Poker Hands like Pairs helps get around Blue Stake but still helps you not flounder in score. Planet levels in general you should start valuing as they make Purple Stake less bad than it can be. Lastly like previously stated Glass and Steel are essential, primarily on rounds you may not be able to clear.
	Orange Stake	Shops can have Perishable Jokers (Debuffed after 5 Rounds)	The first thing you need to understand is that Perishable Jokers are still Perishable, so don’t get too comfortable with a certain Joker if it comes with that modifier. That doesn’t make them useless however, taking a Perishable Joker for a short period can be good on earlier rounds just to help you get by, and considering how rapid the score flies up by now, any little help is appreciated. If you are used to selling Jokers all the time, then this shouldn’t be too bad. Just a small hurdle, smaller compared to the previous.
	Gold Stake	Shops can have Rental Jokers (Costs $3 per round)	Rental Jokers are generally abysmal and can rarely be good until you have actual Econ. I would recommend not taking any Rental Joker in the early Antes as you simply don’t have the money to sustain it. Rental Jokers can also appear with Perishable or Eternal, which can make them even worse, lowering the amount of actually usable and worthwhile stuff on offer. With enough practice, you will be able to build Econ, take ones that benefit your run or learn which ones are worth taking as Rentals, like Rocket and Mail-In Rebate. Avoid bad ones at all cost like and Eternal, Rental Credit Card.