Indie hit Balatro took the gaming world by storm last year, and toward the end of 2024, it experienced another wave of popularity when it was nominated for GOTY at TGA. Balatro is a deck-building roguelite game where the main gameplay revolves around poker hands. It also reinvents classic poker rules in certain levels of the game for challenges and to unlock new approaches.
Balatro was inspired heavily by regular poker, much like video poker games. Video poker tends to be simpler. It doesn’t require players to form complex strategies and compete against other players; it gets rid of the competitiveness of classic poker and offers a simple yet fun version of the card game. Also, video poker has many variants, some of which twist the rules of classic poker, but most of the gameplay revolves around acquiring a good hand. The most popular one is Jacks or Better, where you get a payout if your hand has jacks or higher cards.
At the start of “Jacks or Better,” the player is dealt five cards and is then able to discard some to get a better hand. Queens, Kings, and Aces are the only valuable cards for winning a payout in this variant of video poker. Balatro runs with face card builds that are very similar to this, except there, you don’t win real money.
Modern online casino games share similarities with many video games and it is necessary for them to be created like that for them to work in the digital world. While Balatro is a video game inspired by classic poker, it is strikingly similar to video poker, mainly because both are combinations of the same concepts.
Poker Hands In Balatro
The winning hands in Balatro are high card, pair, two pair, three of a kind, four of a kind, full house, flush, straight, straight flush, and royal flush.
These are hand combinations that score chips, which the player has to accumulate to a certain given number every round. The normal deck in Balatro is the same as classic poker, with 52 cards divided into four suits. However, the game has builds that allow the player to modify the deck and apply multipliers to their hand combinations.
Poker Hands In Video Poker Games
There are many variants of video poker; typically, the winning hands in most of them are similar to traditional poker. These are two-pair, three-of-a-kind, straight, four-of-a-kind, flush, straight flush, full house, and royal flush. These hand combinations are listed in a paytable that provides instructions on which hand pays more and which hand pays less. In variants like “Jacks or Better,” any cards lower than Jack are debuffed, meaning you can only score if you form a hand that contains Jacks, Queens, Kings, or Aces.
Discard Mechanic In Balatro & Video Poker
Both Balatro and video poker games have a discard mechanic that allows the player to discard the cards they are dealt from the deck to improve their hand. In both games, players attempt to form the highest possible scoring hand combination. A typical video poker game only draws five cards at a time and allows players to discard all five cards if they want. In Balatro, the initial draw size can vary from 5-10 or more depending on the mode you are playing.
The discard mechanic is one of the core mechanics of both games, as it allows the player to use strategies that aim for a certain hand, either by discarding or holding on to high-value cards.
Focus on Solo Gameplay
Poker can be incredibly competitive, especially if you are competing with a lot of seasoned players. Video poker was created to remove this high-pressure setting from the game and to get more casual players engaged.
In video poker, you play against the computer and try to beat it as opposed to other players in classic poker. Video poker focuses on solo engagement; it’s just the player vs. the computer.
Similarly, Balatro focuses on solo gameplay while still keeping the appeal of the poker theme. You can play these games at your own pace without worrying about other players. This style of digital games is more welcoming to beginners and also to those who just want to escape the competitiveness of other card games. The focus on solo gameplay is what video poker and Balatro execute right without compromising the poker feel.
Conclusion
While Balatro and video poker games share similarities, they have differences too. The major difference is you bet real money and win real money in video poker. In contrast, Balatro is a video game where you can only win virtual currency. Some platforms offer video poker in their free play sections where players can practice the games to their heart’s content with virtual money. Video poker is available in many variants, and each has its own rules and winning hand combinations. Game modes in Balatro can take any shape and encompass several variants of video poker.
