Decks

The contents of a 52-card deck in Red Deck.

There are 15 Decks in Balatro that contain playing cards that are key to forming poker hands. Each deck changes gameplay by having varying degrees of effects and need to be unlocked through different means. The player must choose which deck to use at the start of every run, as well as their starting Stake. Higher Stakes need to be unlocked sequentially for each individual Deck by completing the highest available stake for each deck. For example, a player must use and win with Red Deck on every single stake from White to Orange to unlock the Gold Stake. The same must be done for each of the remaining decks. The deck will also receive a Sticker of the corresponding Stake color.

There are also 20 Challenge Decks available, that each have their own specific modifiers, rules, and restrictions. They can only be played on White Stake.

Decks

The first deck available to players is the Red Deck. The four additional color decks are unlocked by discovering items from the collection (Jokers, consumable cards, tags, vouchers, and so on), and the remaining decks are unlocked by winning with each of those five decks, or by winning with any deck with a specific Stake selected.

Nr	Deck	Description	Unlock condition
1	Red Deck	+1 discard every round	Unlocked from start
2	Blue Deck	+1 hand every round	Discover at least 20 items from your collection
3	Yellow Deck	Start with extra $10	Discover at least 50 items from your collection
4	Green Deck	At end of each Round: $2 per remaining Hand $1 per remaining Discard Earn no Interest	Discover at least 75 items from your collection
5	Black Deck	+1 Joker slot -1 hand every round	Discover at least 100 items from your collection
6	Magic Deck	Start run with the Crystal Ball voucher and 2 copies of The Fool	Win a run with the Red Deck on any difficulty
7	Nebula Deck	Start run with the Telescope voucher -1 consumable slot	Win a run with the Blue Deck on any difficulty
8	Ghost Deck	Spectral cards may appear in the shop, start with a Hex card	Win a run with the Yellow Deck on any difficulty
9	Abandoned Deck	Start run with no Face Cards in your deck	Win a run with the Green Deck on any difficulty
10	Checkered Deck	Start run with 26 Spades and 26 Hearts in deck	Win a run with the Black Deck on any difficulty
11	Zodiac Deck	Start run with Tarot Merchant, Planet Merchant, and Overstock	Win a run with any deck on the Red Stake difficulty or harder
12	Painted Deck	+2 hand size, -1 Joker slot	Win a run with any deck on the Green Stake difficulty or harder
13	Anaglyph Deck	After defeating each Boss Blind, gain a Double Tag	Win a run with any deck on the Black Stake difficulty or harder
14	Plasma Deck	Balance Chips and Mult when calculating score for played hand X2 base Blind size	Win a run with any deck on the Blue Stake difficulty or harder
15	Erratic Deck	All Ranks and Suits in deck are randomized	Win a run with any deck on the Orange Stake difficulty or harder

Challenge Decks

See also: Challenge Decks

There are twenty different Challenge Decks currently in Balatro, with the first five unlocked after winning on five different decks. Each subsequent deck is unlocked after winning a run with a new Challenge Deck. To unlock all the Challenge Decks, the player needs to win with fifteen of them.

Nr	Name	Custom Rules/Game Modifiers	Initial Jokers & Consumables	Deck	Restrictions
1	The Omelette	All Blinds give no reward money Extra Hands no longer earn money Earn no Interest at end of round	5x Egg	Standard 52 cards	Banned Vouchers: Seed Money Money Tree Banned Jokers: To the Moon Rocket Golden Joker Satellite
2	15 Minute City	None	Eternal Ride the Bus Eternal Shortcut	Two copies of every face card; no Aces, 2s, or 3s	None
3	Rich get Richer	Chips cannot exceed the current $ Start with $100	Seed Money Money Tree	Standard 52 cards	None
4	On a Knife's Edge	None	Eternal, Pinned Ceremonial Dagger The Pinned Joker is always in the leftmost position	Standard 52 cards	None
5	X-ray Vision	1 in 4 cards are drawn face down	None	Standard 52 cards	None
6	Mad World	Extra Hands no longer earn money Earn no Interest at end of round	Eternal, Negative Pareidolia Eternal Business Card	Ranks 2 through 9 only, 32 cards total	Banned Blinds: The Plant ( Boss The Plant.png)
7	Luxury Tax	Hold -1 cards in hand for every $5 you have 10 hand size	None	Standard 52 cards	None
8	Non-Perishable	All Jokers are Eternal	None	Standard 52 cards	Banned Jokers: Gros Michel, Cavendish Ice Cream; Turtle Bean, Ramen, Diet Cola; Seltzer; Popcorn, Mr. Bones, Invisible Joker and Luchador Banned Blinds: Verdant Leaf ( Showdown Verdant Leaf.png)
9	Medusa	None	Eternal Marble Joker	52 cards, with all face cards replaced by Stone cards	None
10	Double or Nothing	All Played cards become debuffed after scoring	None	Standard 52-card deck, all with a Red Seal	None
11	Typecast	When ante 4 boss is defeated: - all Jokers become eternal - set Joker slots to 0	None	Standard 52 cards	Banned Blinds: Verdant Leaf ( Showdown Verdant Leaf.png)
12	Inflation	Permanently raise prices by $1 on every purchase	Credit Card	Standard 52 cards	Banned Vouchers: Clearance Sale, Liquidation
13	Bram Poker	Jokers no longer appear in the shop	Eternal Vampire The Emperor, The Empress Magic Trick, Illusion	Standard 52 cards	None
14	Fragile	None	2x Eternal, Negative Oops! All 6s	Standard 52-card deck, all glass	All methods of adding non-glass cards or removing glass enhancements are banned: Jokers: Marble Joker, Vampire, Midas Mask and Certificate Tarot Cards: The Magician, The Empress, The Hierophant, The Chariot, The Devil, The Tower, and The Lovers Spectral Cards: Incantation, Grim, and Familiar Vouchers: Magic Trick and Illusion Booster Packs: Standard Pack Tags: Standard Tag ( Standard tag.png)
15	Monolith	None	Eternal Obelisk Eternal Negative Marble Joker	Standard 52 cards	None
16	Blast Off	2 hands per round 2 discards per round 4 Joker Slots	Eternal Constellation Eternal Rocket Planet Merchant Planet Tycoon	Standard 52 cards	Banned Vouchers: Grabber, Nacho Tong Banned Jokers: Burglar
17	Five-Card Draw	6 discards per round 5 hand size 7 Joker slots	Card Sharp Joker	Standard 52 cards	Banned Jokers: Juggler, Troubadour, Turtle Bean
18	Golden Needle	Discards each cost $1 1 hands per round 6 discards per round Start with $10	Credit Card	Standard 52 cards	Banned Jokers: Burglar Banned Vouchers: Grabber, Nacho Tong
19	Cruelty	Small Blinds give no reward money Big Blinds give no reward money 3 Joker Slots	None	Standard 52 cards	None
20	Jokerless	Jokers no longer appear in the shop 0 Joker Slots	None	Standard 52 cards	All methods of acquiring Jokers: Tarot Cards: Judgement Spectral Cards: Wraith and The Soul Tags: Uncommon Tag ( Uncommon tag.png), Rare Tag, Negative Tag, Foil Tag, Holographic Tag, Polychrome Tag, Buffoon Tag ( Buffoon tag.png), Top-up Tag ( Top-up tag.png) Blinds: Crimson Heart ( Showdown Crimson Heart.png), Verdant Leaf ( Showdown Verdant Leaf.png), Amber Acorn ( Showdown Amber Acorn.png) Vouchers: Antimatter Booster Packs: all 4 Buffoon Packs

Decks (demo versions)

See also: Unused content in Balatro

Several unused Decks were present in various demo versions, and some can also be seen in the Steam trailer for the game.

The decks below were found in various pre-release demo versions of the game.

Name	Description	Unlock Condition
Braided Deck	Before 0.9.2i-FULL: Most played hand starts at lvl.3 [hand type] ([no. times played]) 0.9.2i-FULL: First played hand upgraded to lvl.3^[1]	Before 0.9.2i-FULL: Discover at least 130 items from your collection 0.9.2i-FULL: Win a run with any deck on the Green Stake difficulty or harder^[2]
Silver Deck	Start run with one Joker	Discover at least 170 items from your collection
Foil Deck	Add Foil ({{chips\|+50}} Joker (Foil).png) to 3 random cards in deck	Discover at least 180 items from your collection
Holographic Deck	Add Holographic to 3 random cards in deck	Discover at least 190 items from your collection
Polychrome Deck	Add Polychrome to 1 random card in deck	Discover at least 200 items from your collection
Rocky Deck	Start run with 13 extra Stone Cards	Win a run with any deck on the Red Stake difficulty or harder^[2]
Metal Deck	Start run with 6 playing cards enhanced into Steel Cards^[1]	Win a run with the Yellow Deck on any difficulty^[2]
Unused Deck	Unknown.	Unknown.
Unused Deck	Unknown.	Unknown.

[ytb092i-1] 1.0 ^1.1 Balatro 0.9.2i-FULL Beta - Metal, Rocky, and Braided Decks Gameplay (Unused Decks) - Ditto at Youtube

[imgr092i-2] 2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 Image from 0.9.2i-FULL version of Balatro

[1]

[2]

RS3 Decks in Balatro
Standard Decks	Red Deck Blue Deck Yellow Deck Green Deck Black Deck Magic Deck Nebula Deck Ghost Deck Abandoned Deck Checkered Deck Zodiac Deck Painted Deck Anaglyph Deck Plasma Deck Erratic Deck
Challenge Decks	The Omelette ( ) 15 Minute City ( ) Rich get Richer ( ) On a Knife's Edge ( ) X-ray Vision ( ) Mad World ( ) Luxury Tax ( ) Non-Perishable ( ) Medusa ( ) Double or Nothing ( ) Typecast ( ) Inflation ( ) Bram Poker ( ) Fragile ( ) Monolith ( ) Blast Off ( ) Five-Card Draw ( ) Golden Needle ( ) Cruelty ( ) Jokerless ( )