How to order Jokers in Balatro – Destructoid
Balatro's order of operations.
Yes, the order your Jokers are in does matter. Unless otherwise stated, Joker card effects trigger from left to right. This means that +Mult and XMult effects will trigger in the order their respective cards are in. In order to maximize your score with the largest Mult, you should ensure your +Mult Jokers are to the left of your XMult Jokers.
Here’s an example of me doubling my score with the same three Jokers simply by ordering them differently.
I have Joker Stencil (X3 Mult), Popcorn (+12 Mult), and then Ice Cream (+90 Chips). When I play a hand, my Jokers trigger from left to right, resulting in these actions:
- I’ve played a straight which results in 55 base Chips and 4 base Mult.
- Joker Stencil triggers first, multiplying the base Mult by 3. (4 X 3 = 12 Mult)
- Popcorn triggers next, adding 12 to the Mult. (12 + 12 = 24 Mult)
- Ice Cream triggers last, adding 90 Chips. (55 + 90 = 145 Chips)
- The final calculation is 145 Chips X 24 Mult = 3,480 final score.
Screenshot by Destructoid In this case, I only ended up with 24 total Mult. The placement of the Ice Cream card doesn’t matter since the final “Chips X Mult” calculation is always performed at the very end of scoring.
Now let’s look at another round where I have Ice Cream (+95 Chips), Popcorn (+16 Mult), and Joker Stencil (X3 Mult) in that order. The exact numbers are different because Popcorn and Ice Cream’s effects change over time. This results in the following order of actions:
- I’ve played a two pair which results in 34 base Chips and 2 base Mult.
- Ice Cream triggers first, adding 95 to the Chips count. (34 + 95 = 129 Chips)
- Popcorn triggers next, adding 16 to the Mult count. (2 + 16 = 18 Mult)
- Joker Stencil triggers last, multiplying the total Mult by 3. (18 X 3 = 54 Mult)
- The final calculation is 129 Chips X 54 Mult = 6,966 final score.
Screenshot by Destructoid With this hand, I achieved a much higher Mult than with my previous hand, which increased my score dramatically. This is the optimal order for these Jokers since the +Mult effect triggers before the XMult effect. I’ve essentially tripled the efficacy of my Popcorn card. Ice Cream adds to the Chips count independently of whatever’s going on with the Mult calculations, so it can be placed anywhere.
Exceptions
There are a few exceptions to the left-to-right rule. One is for Jokers that trigger “when a card is scored.” These effects always trigger at the time the triggering card is factored into scoring, before all other calculations.
This includes Jokers like Greedy Joker, which gives +4 Mult when a diamond card is scored. The +4 Mult effects will happen as each card is scored at the very beginning of the calculations, regardless of where the Greedy Joker is in your lineup.
Certain other Jokers, like Baseball Card, always appear to trigger last, even though their descriptions don’t specify. If a Joker isn’t behaving like you expect, it may be one of these exceptions.
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FAQs
How do you copy the Joker in Balatro?
Once a Poker hand is played Blueprint will continue copying the last Joker to its right even if its moved around afterward. This can be exploited by first playing the winning hand then moving Blueprint to copy the end-of-round effect Joker such as Reserved Parking or Mime while scoring is calculated.
What adds double the rank of lowest in Balatro?
Raised Fist is an additive Mult Joker that adds an amount of Mult equal to twice the smallest card currently held in your hand.
What is the origin of the name Roulette?
The origin of the name “roulette” is French and it means “little wheel”. The name is derived from the fact that the game is played on a small wheel that spins around with players betting on where the ball will land. The word “roulette” was first used in its current context in the 18th century although the game itself dates back much earlier.
