Balatro's core gameplay is based on a standard deck of 52 playing cards.
A standard deck consists of 4 suits, with 13 cards of different rank in each suite.
The suits are found in the following order: the 
Spade suit, the 
Heart suit, the 
Club suit, and the 
Diamond suit. Top to bottom in the visual deck display, and left to right in your hand when sorting by suit. This is true even when the cards are drawn face down, allowing you to guess at a card's suit.
Each suit contains an 
Ace followed by 
King, Queen, and Jack, and then 
10-2, shown left to right both in the visual deck display and in your hand when sorted by suit. When your hand is sorted by rank, the suits are ignored but the order of the ranks is still left to right, A, KQJ, 10-2. This is true even when the cards are face down, allowing you to guess at a card's rank.
Some decks in Balatro (such as the 
Checkered Deck or the 
Erratic Deck) use a different distribution of cards and some consumables and Jokers can manipulate the suits in a deck.
Wild Cards are considered to be every suit simultaneously, meaning they can benefit from multiple suit-related Jokers (and be penalized by any suit related Boss Blind). However, for Jokers such as 
Flower Pot and 
Seeing Double, they will only count as one suit.
Spade suit[]
The Spade suit is one of four suits in Balatro. It is one of two black suits, the other being the Club suit.
Jokers that directly synergize with the Spade suit:
Jokers that affect the Spade suit as well as other suits:
Heart suit[]
The Heart suit is one of four suits in Balatro. It is one of two red suits, the other being the Diamond suit.
Jokers that directly synergize with the Heart suit:
Jokers that affect the Heart suit as well as other suits:
Club suit[]
The Club suit is one of four suits in Balatro. It is one of two black suits, the other being the Spade suit.
Jokers that directly synergize with the Club suit:
Jokers that affect the Club suit as well as other suits:
Blackboard- Smeared Joker
- Flower Pot
- Seeing Double (note: requires a Club suit card to be scored in a played hand along with another suit)
Diamond suit[]
The Diamond suit is one of four suits in Balatro. It is one of two red suits, the other being the Heart suit.
Jokers that directly synergize with the Diamond suit:
Jokers that affect the Diamond suit as well as other suits:
Random Suit Jokers and Consumables[]
Some Jokers in Balatro act on a random suit each round:
The following Spectral Cards can act on a suit:
- Sigil (converts all cards in hand to a single, random suit)
The following Tarot Cards can act on a suit:
- The Lovers (VI) (converts 1 selected card into a Wild Card)
- The Star (XVII) (converts 3 selected cards to the Diamond suit)
- The Moon (XVIII) (converts 3 selected cards to the Club suit)
- The Sun (XIX) (converts 3 selected cards to the Heart suit)
- The World (XXI) (converts 3 selected cards to the Spade suit)
- Death (XIII) (copies the left card into the right card, which copies the suit)
In other languages[]
| Language | Name | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Chinese (Simplified) | 黑桃 | |
| Chinese (Traditional) | 黑桃 | |
| Dutch | Schoppen | |
| French | Pique / Piques | |
| German | Pik / Piks | |
| Indonesian | Sekop | |
| Italian | Picca / Picche | |
| Japanese | スペード | |
| Korean | 스페이드 | |
| Polish | Pik / Piki | |
| Portuguese (Brazilian) | Espadas | |
| Russian | Пики | |
| Spanish (Spain) | Pica / Picas | |
| Spanish (Latin America) | Espada / Espadas |
| Language | Name | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Chinese (Simplified) | 红桃 | |
| Chinese (Traditional) | 紅心 | |
| Dutch | Harten | |
| French | Cœur / Cœurs | |
| German | Herz | |
| Indonesian | Hati | |
| Italian | Cuore / Cuori | |
| Japanese | ハート | |
| Korean | 하트 | |
| Polish | Kier / Kiery | |
| Portuguese (Brazilian) | Copas | |
| Russian | Черви | |
| Spanish (Spain) | Corazón / Corazones | |
| Spanish (Latin America) | Corazón / Corazones |
| Language | Name | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Chinese (Simplified) | 梅花 | |
| Chinese (Traditional) | 梅花 | |
| Dutch | Klaveren | |
| French | Trèfle / Trèfles | |
| German | Kreuz | |
| Indonesian | Keriting | |
| Italian | Fiore / Fiori | |
| Japanese | クラブ | |
| Korean | 클럽 | |
| Polish | Trefl / Trefle | |
| Portuguese (Brazilian) | Paus | |
| Russian | Трефы | |
| Spanish (Spain) | Trébol / Tréboles | |
| Spanish (Latin America) | Trébol / Tréboles |
| Language | Name | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Chinese (Simplified) | 方片 | |
| Chinese (Traditional) | 方塊 | |
| Dutch | Ruiten | |
| French | Carreau / Carreaux | |
| German | Karo | |
| Indonesian | Wajik | |
| Italian | Quadro / Quadri | |
| Japanese | ダイヤ | |
| Korean | 다이아몬드 | |
| Polish | Karo | |
| Portuguese (Brazilian) | Ouros | |
| Russian | Бубны | |
| Spanish (Spain) | Diamante / Diamantes | |
| Spanish (Latin America) | Diamante / Diamantes |