Balatro: An Increasingly Illegal Game of Poker

Welcome to Balatro, this is an illegal Poker roguelike. Your job is to break the rules as much as possible and win with a stacked deck
Watch more card games: • Wildfrost: An Increasi...
Everything in this video was recorded live on my Twitch Channel. My schedule is Tuesday & Thursday @ 7pm, Saturday & Sunday @ 3pm - all times based in Ireland: / rtgame
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Edited by Ashtaric (Cloé), you can find her here: / xashtaricx
And here: / ashtaric

[@RTGame]

God I love gambling

[@thejester2934]

Remember kids, always gamble your hard earned money away

[@stellarsting1308]

really hope you keep playing balatro, you've scratched only 2% of what the game has to offer

[@CorvusCorviday]

Yeah I'm with Stellar. I'd actually really like to see you play this a few more times.

[@MehmetHuseyinKARALAR]

I’m having Swindlestones flashbacks

[@generallyunimportant]

always bet on red... NOTED

[@cyan.cephalopod]

“Never punished” is a terrifying phrase coming out of dan’s mouth. Especially when he’s right

[@RememberThe67Pikmin]

His glass king switched odds with wheel of fortune

[@NoManOdysseus]

That glass king survived *how many* plays without breaking?

[@patrickt101]

I feel like it’s especially dangerous with a poker game hahahaha, roulette stream coming when??? 👀

[@ICTON123]

@@NoManOdysseus All of them

[@oncesilenced5509]

Especially when he's gambling

[@mscupcakes]

I taught him everything he knows

[@StickMaster500]

You are the Balatro Queen

[@stonetimekeeper]

And you should be very proud of your protege

[@reneepark7385]

⁠@@StickMaster500They used to call her the Balatro Queen back in college, don’t you know?

[@conwaytwittyer2667]

You’re one hell of a teacher.

[@KANNA-CHAN]

they called him ' THE FLUSH KING ' back in college

[@grfrjiglstan]

The fact that the developer of this game doesn't even play poker is brilliant. They just looked up the rules, and built their own unique game out of that, like a hermit crab finding a tuna can and making it his home.

[@justas423]

Great to hear the dev shares my poker experience.

[@setster007]

Okay, that makes things even better.

[@niyah000]

this makes so much sense😭 i only play poker in passing but goddamn you’ve really gotta throw out your knowledge of the game to understand this. still a really good game

[@amanwithnoname4657]

Honestly I'm surprised One-Eyed Jack's didn't automatically count as wilds here

[@orngjce223]

This game's interpretation of tarot is similarly askew

[@IronDino]

Imagine seeing something like this happening in an actual casino. Man comes in with $20 bucks, excited that he's played Luigi Poker before. Proceeds to steamroll the house. Leaves.

[@dispensergoinup]

10 Luck moment

[@alli-gator-forest]

Me strolling up to Las Vegas with an illegial deck and a credit card, ready to take on the world

[@anyahati]

Real Mr. Green moment

[@cccg838]

And leaves with 22$ lmao

[@BennyAscent]

​@@anyahati nah, the real mr green always vomits all over himself whenever he enters a casino

[@sonofpears4691]

His deck is literally the heart of the cards

[@icebergerplays9639]

Gasp! The power of FREINDSHIP!

[@faorism]

+1

[@PersonCalledErin]

​@@faorism Is RT "Daniel" Game, just one half of Northernlion?

[@sonofpears4691]

@@icebergerplays9639 No, it’s the only thing more powerful. It’s the power of GAMBLING!

[@sandran17]

DONT PUT IRELAND IN THE YU GI OH EXPANDED UNIVERSE

[@inanimatesum4945]

The fact your glass King didn’t break at all, you should buy a lottery ticket lmao

[@arandomcheese]

I just got the game and used my first two glass cards. they both broke at the same time and I got an achievement lol

[@dutchminers66]

​@arandomcheese ive played this game for 70 hours, and i do not have that one. good job!

[@Commando23414221998]

Guaranteed that glass king breaks for me first time I play it

[@Bee3D1]

@@arandomcheeseThe exact opposite thing happened to me. Rif raf gave me 2 common jokers and both were polychrome.

[@percher4824]

@@dutchminers66 The hard part is getting two glass cards into your hand that are also part of a valid hand. The easy part is breaking them.

[@matthewcant6444]

The most bs part of his run is that the glass king never broke

[@Deadly_Laser]

tbf I've never had a glass card break even once in the like 15 runs I've played, it might actually be bugged upd: ok I got it once a couple hours after writing this, but that's still quite a statistical outlier

[@unsnopable]

@@Deadly_Laserit is most definitely not broken, you should buy a lottery card

[@kennymuller3115]

@@unsnopable He shouldn't. His luck has clearly been used up already.

[@Spyhermit]

that's the most bs part? he literally beat blind 8 on his tutorial round of the game. I'm losing my mind here.

[@thepotatoportal69]

@@kennymuller3115 Most gamblers quit right before they win big

[@kannon5329]

Only minutes in, he's already grasped the entire point of the game: 7:22 "Wait, no, what am I doing? Just get the flush, nothing else matters." The greed, the flushes, the high from the lack of punishment... I love Balatro.

[@airplanes_aren.t_real]

Last paragraph gave me hakari flashbacks

[@samt3412]

​@@airplanes_aren.t_real What would happen if Hakari used his DE on Balatro

[@greekblade9376]

To everyone saying Dan’s glass king not breaking is a statistical wonder, I would like to remind you all that during his Miitopia playthrough, throughout hundreds of battles, I Want Die only Bluffed, a 20% chance proc, on the final floor in the Tower of Despair. Dan doesn’t just live in statistical impossibilities, he _revels_ in them

[@elliot4152]

His Minecraft seed too was pretty unlikely

[@theregularterrarian3933]

I can't believe RT managed to win his first run when he definitely should've lost multiple times

[@sirbeakle9949]

Never punished

[@RTGame]

It's not a gamble when you're guaranteed to win

[@PinaColada104]

@@RTGame Truer words have never come out of a man

[@jameshenderson4094]

​@@RTGame your are ridiculously funny, never punished indeed Mr, Gaming. Please do more! You and games with ridiculous amounts of chance involved are like a fire and gasoline

[@mattgroening8872]

@@RTGameGAZILLION DOLLAR PRIZE 🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑

[@StickMaster500]

All those years RT has put into Luigi Poker has finally paid off after beating the tutorial because as we know, he used to be called the King of Hearts and Flushes back in college. *Mscupcakes would be proud!*

[@r3_routing47]

WHY ARE YOU ALWAYS HERE HUH

[@Asillyfella21]

King of the toilet in college.

[@mscupcakes]

So proud 🥲

[@grzegorzbrzeczyszczykiewic563]

Flushing Dan.

[@SolstaceWinters]

They called him the Flush King back in college, way I heard it.

[@malaizze]

See, what Dan is doing here is actually an advanced form of method acting. It has been two years since he finished playing Ace Attorney and he’s now getting into poker. From this we can conclude he will spend another five years playing nothing but poker until he fully becomes AA4 Phoenix Wright and returns to play the Apollo Justice trilogy in 2029. This is my Mayan Calendar

[@SoZettaSlow]

Maya-n calendar

[@kiranaun9593]

I think what makes balatro so great is that it's a game designed for maximum gambling without the requirement of getting you to spend money while you play, so it can just lean into the insane fun factor all it wants.

[@kerred]

Magic Collector boosters breathing angrily in the background at the thought of not paying more

[@grzegorzbrzeczyszczykiewic563]

All thrill, no harm.

[@owenf5222]

It’s crazy how much more fun games can be when they’re not about live service and microtransactions.

[@kiranaun9593]

@@owenf5222 Exactly. Like, gambling as a concept plays off of lots of natural human impulses in a way that isn't inherently negative, except that it was developed under capitalism and therefore exists to make money. When you detach it from the capitalism bit, it can be loads of fun. Balatro, along with other casino-themed games, simply takes gambling, strips away the capitalism, and then cranks everything up to 11.

[@owenf5222]

@@kiranaun9593 I think gambling has existed slightly longer than capitalism

[@polarvortex6496]

“Poor, predictable RT. Always playing a flush.” “Good old flush, nothing beats that!”

[@lucasc8972]

Flushes are a bit of a noob trap because they are easy to play, but they don’t scale well and are subject to rng. If your deck is, say, 50% hearts, you could just. not draw them

[@TCM464]

​@@lucasc8972I mean, they *can* get you to the end, and that's good for a noob! I wouldn't expect to get past... like, Ante 12 with it, but it could win a game! Assuming RNG is on your side, as you said.

[@BE-fw1lr]

@@lucasc8972 Not really? If you have any sort of tarot generation it's easy to convert your entire deck to a single suit even in gold stake.

[@ballisticboo7808]

Also assuming the game doesn't throw a boss blind that debuffs your flush suit at you

[@taco8951]

@@ballisticboo7808 Didn't stop RT. Which was hilarious.

[@sausagebap3719]

Why does this happen every time?! Every time you play one of these games you fucking destroy it. It’s the weirdest case of streamer luck ever. The fact the glass king didn’t break the entire time is mad.

[@radiantg8452]

As someone who works in credit cards a lot of people do think if you get rid of the card you're free. Fun times.

[@Krixwell]

Just bury your debts under the yard. No one will know.

[@maddawgzzzz]

its called bankruptcy... ive spent 20k on credit cards... a month later i was free lmao

[@MrFlarespeed]

​@maddawgzzzz free to never get a loan or credit card approval again.

[@Dmobley9901]

Leave it to Dan to understand JUST enough of a game to absolutely destroy it in a single playthrough. Flushed this whole game like it was a Zelda no death challenge.

[@inkerJ]

He redeemed himself from the toe stub

[@theinvisiblegentleman1142]

10:29 as someone with a few dozen hours in this game, I felt like walt screaming for hank to stop.

[@Corsaka]

why?

[@justsumrandum3288]

Oh the glass king not being played at the end I’m guessing

[@totallynothatguy1698]

You’re the smartest guy I ever met, but you’re too stupid to see… he already decided to win ten minutes ago.

[@michaelhalstead5106]

Nah it was that he played the glass king on a hand that it wouldn't really matter for

[@BroKenYaKnow]

@@michaelhalstead5106 he's streamer luck made it so those glasses never broke

[@Inconel_Rek]

Insert the breaking bad meme. " HE CANT KEEP GETTING AWAY WITH THIS!"

[@lil.st0ne]

ah yes a memorable moment in the show "braking" bad

[@MrxstGrssmnstMttckstPhlNelThot]

Well apparently he can. Never punished.

[@Inconel_Rek]

@@lil.st0ne idk what your talking about, i totally didn't make any spelling mistakes.

[@MetronaJ]

Dan keeping the joker which gives 10 mult if a flush is played over replacing it with the card which gives 15 unconditionally is funny to me

[@tylermeeksmith4176]

It wasn't the wrong move to be honest. Michel has a 1 in 4 of dying so it's better to keep the +10 instead of +15. Though it would have been funny to see rt reaction to Cavendish.

[@mux1c]

@@tylermeeksmith4176 his king also had a 1 in 4 chance of dying, but he's just too good to do that 🤷‍♂

[@tylermeeksmith4176]

@@mux1c yeah that only on play though and rt wasn't using it all the time. While Michel is always at risk of losing it.

[@mux1c]

@@tylermeeksmith4176 He got the king much earlier, so the odds of either breaking end up roughly the same when adding up all the rounds played of each. Also, at the end of the day, both are gambling xddd which is what you do here

[@438emily9]

The glass king never breaking is wild, never punished!! I hope you play more of this Dan

[@sonofpears4691]

Yeah it’s got a 1/4 chance of destroying itself and I was hoping someone would do a counter of how many times it didn’t activate when played.

[@Savannah_Boots]

Me: currently playing balatro RT: uploads video about balatro

[@Lucy-dg9en]

Let's bala go!

[@jordananderson3588]

Balatro do be ballin

[@bigman2366]

Yeah I’m almost done with every challenge it’s a amazing game very funny that many people I watch randomly started making videos on it

[@PuppetPal_Clem]

I'd be more shocked if you werent playing it. it's so damn addictive I already got 200 hours since release

[@Savannah_Boots]

@@PuppetPal_Clem it’s the most devious game of all time. i sit down to play for a few minutes and suddenly it’s been 3 hours

[@SlightlyShinyGrey]

100% legal solitaire

[@aeircrown7994]

Of course the Flushes win, the reoccurring toilet jokes persist.

[@duncanurquhart5278]

38:19 "Seed: TUTORIAL" lmao

[@trygveplaustrum4634]

If only RT was this successful when he gambles in other games… …And when he gambles in real life…

[@Mathtriqueur]

*joke on how you stop playing Balatro to watch someone play Balatro.

[@kerred]

See? You CAN quit anytime you want

[@omnomou81]

They may have called him the Drift King back in college, but now they call him the Flush King

[@ryanspruce7447]

He beat a roguelike in the tutorial level……NEVER PUNISHED

[@GTHB.]

Bro had the luckiest "TUTORIAL" seed imaginable "First game seed is always "tutorial"

[@jimjamjingo791]

The tutorial seed I got ended with a 600,000 point hand courtesy of ancient joker, which he did actually see early on

[@Jakey726]

he also unlocked the Green deck and blueprint joker at the end of his run which is insane

[@honkstheclown8631]

LOVE RT playing these very strategy focused wombo combo games. The Slay the Spire video is one of my favourite RT videos of all time, and I think this one will be joining it :))

[@NerfPlayeR135]

"And we shank 'em and we shank 'em and we shank 'em..."

[@username5155]

Amazing how, in one run, RT found the amazing strat of “turn all your cards into one suit then buff the f*ck out of flushes”

[@bEEgMark]

I haven’t seen RT talk about Flushes this much since the last video where they talk about Toliets and the Bathroom for 22 minutes

[@trygveplaustrum4634]

24:27 *RT succumbs to his inner gambling monster.*

[@slothfulcobra]

I had my doubts about this game, but damn this looks attractive. Look at the texture on those packs.

[@kerred]

Make sure you don't make any commitments before buying. Prepare for some Stardew Valley time sinks

[@cairoraiser9338]

It’s gambling, strategy, cards, risk and roguelike all in one game. Basically, Dan’s home turf. The only way this could go more his way is if you gave him a place to drift.

[@trygveplaustrum4634]

Truly, RT has the Luck of the Irish. Never punished.

[@MPBoosterAxel]

So like, we’re giving Dan a new title related to his unbelievable performance here, yeah? He’s absolutely earned it

[@sapphireblue4031]

They used to call him the FLUSHING KING back in college?

[@MPBoosterAxel]

@@sapphireblue4031 Come on, we can do better than referencing the Drift King every time Dan does something spectacular. Like “Dies at First Gym Guy!” Unique, funny, and we instantly know what the title means!

[@grzegorzbrzeczyszczykiewic563]

Reliable Toilet, because he always flushes.

[@eveting9447]

​@@grzegorzbrzeczyszczykiewic563NOT RELIABLE TOILET 😂😂😂

[@alexscholz3438]

@@grzegorzbrzeczyszczykiewic563 ITS THE RT WE'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR

[@l-uiz]

rt the game

[@afeathereddinosaur]

Balatro the person

[@locomokuu2471]

Mario the idea

[@GorbWasHere]

Scott the Woz

[@lil.st0ne]

​@@locomokuu2471perchance

[@asystemofnocturnes]

rt just feels like an old friend to me now. he uploads something gambling related and im just like "ohh, what did he do this time?"

[@zanderyaldo]

Balatro is such a fun game I’ve been playing it since it came out it’s very addicting

[@mopman9264]

I wander where that came from?

[@zanderyaldo]

@@mopman9264 bro no😭

[@SuperCaitball]

Holy crap he got lucky his first game, but also he is kind of a natural at it regardless in being able to understand everything going on pretty decently. He understands that joker / card order is important (after getting corrected on how glass works), and he makes decent decisions (outside of some, you know, Content™ plays every now and then).

[@Droub_]

At the discord he posted a pic that he continued the run. He died at ante 10/8

[@Romanticoutlaw]

damned respectable, especially for a first run. But maybe part of that is that he hasn't unlocked all the crappy jokers that keep flooding my runs now lol

[@NerfPlayeR135]

In my (very limited) experience, that's where Flush strats tend to die. They usually can't compensate for the massive jump in chip requirements.

[@ian5766]

@@NerfPlayeR135you just morph to a flush four or flush five deck for higher antes

[@buddy1sock]

Really impressive rt won his first ever game! Almost never happens, especially in rougelikes. Have fun with your new gambling addiction rtgame!

[@sonofpears4691]

Yeah, I did that once with Slay The Spire but I haven’t managed to do it with any others

[@FetusDeletus_E]

Gotta love when RT gambles in the most reckless way possible and it just works for some reason

[@trygveplaustrum4634]

*In this episode, RT gambles himself into massive debt.* Props for a realistic simulation!

[@winteriris13]

man i love it when you can get really good at one thing in these deck building games and its just so broken

[@Darkworldwolf]

He took Yugi´s advice. Believe in the heart of the cards

[@muggoganerva251]

This game perfectly combines the addiction of poker without ever running out of funds.

[@Dr.Death8520]

Daneshiro is never punished for gambling. It's his innate ability.

[@FeeshUnofficial]

The focus on flushing in this video fits really well with the previous video

[@Offtask2]

Puts the heart of the cards in a whole new light

[@thecatwithatophat4069]

I can't believe RT flushed his life away

[@reddheirwingenjoyer]

Nobody tell him about the Duck Shuffler in Toontown, every Buck kinnie I know is OBSESSED with this game.

[@micahphilson]

Me and the boys in the bathroom: "Oh, we flushin'!"

[@goog1396]

wow rt! you must be amazing at this, because this appears to be a very CARD game! you gotta be ready to put all hands on DECK for this one! you might have to GIVE UP YOUR HAND to beat this game! balatro

[@blankjewel6130]

Daneshiro is back

[@fuzzyotterpaws4395]

0:50 Toad serving a MARIOgarita!😂

[@D_B_N_Bass]

Balatro has quickly become one of my favourite games after I bought it on day one

[@emeraldgiss]

It's so fun to see Dan think that scores that make 4 digits are strong at all strong.

[@einootspork]

I loved him at the beginning being like "Wow, +4 Mult, that's so powerful!" at one of the worst jokers in the game

[@kerred]

Us orange stakes yearn for that level of simplicity sometimes

[@combak2712]

Hey, it’s a game I’m actually really familiar with! I’d love to see some more of this; Dan’s barely scratched the surface of the insanity this game can be. He did manage to hit on a pretty strong strategy this run though. BTW, I think my best score was about 10 to the 32nd, and that run died on the 16th Ante. Give Endless a try, it scales fast. Also check out the collection tab, it explains the things the tutorial skips. It also hints at a few of the nuttier things you can do.

[@Saplingbat]

It took him 3 hands to discover flush meta lmao

[@X-SPONGED]

Petition for Dan to set a Twitch subgoal for a "Gambling Week" of sorts Where for a whole week, Dan streams nothing but games that involve some aspect of gambling, chance, or betting. Starting from something like Balatro, moving up to Poker Night at the Inventory, and then Buckshot Roulette, and so on and so forth, until the final day eventually culminates with him revealing he's in Vegas once more and currently engaging in a gambling rematch with the Willy Wonka slot machine that costed him thousands of pounds that one time. If that glass king not breaking isn't proof enough that his Irish luck has rebound and ready for the slots, this weeklong event should do it.

[@graham7784]

While others hide a few aces up their sleeves, Dan hides over a dozen hearts.

[@username5155]

I’ve been avoiding this game but as soon as I saw the name Jimbo I was sold I will give you all of me and my family’s kidneys for you to make more.

[@CinnaSwirls]

You put a lot of heart into that strategy.

[@ciscoortega9789]

Dude I've been playing Balatro nonstop, this game is straight gas, dopamine injected straight into my veins

[@theKungFuFerret]

I loved the stream and was so excited to see the highlights finally come out. If there’s a second Balatro stream then I’ll defs be there for it!

[@vegladex]

Absolutely amazing, this is just RT's game. I want to see more!!! The flush deck is good, but there are SO many other builds!

[@yrahcaznotgnittihw3762]

I can't believe I just witnessed Dan defeat gambling

[@noctisflamma]

Balatro has joined the growing list of games that I have purchased after watching you stream them... I've already lost control of how much I'm playing because of how addicting it is lol, I blame you mr streamer rumble tumble games

[@charliefreidson1871]

Coming back to this from the most recent Balatro video is like watching the origin story of a supervillain

[@Speal_]

please defenitly do a second stream! this game fits you so well and balatro is my fav game of all time

[@alexsiemers7898]

I’m amazed RT did so well with his first time playing, meanwhile with my ten hours in the demo I’d only won once, and it took me several more hours in the full release to get another win. Then again Ive had basically no other roguelike experience so I probably just suck at them

[@KingNios]

My jaw is dislodged from being open the entire video, all the luck in the world. This was amazing. I love this game❤

[@ptprojektred]

Please more of this. Its hillarious!

[@xann2681]

As someone who has gone to ante 25, seeing dad get excited for 100k chips brings me back to when i started playing this game

[@derpywhooves.]

Gambling, the best way to spend your time

[@articerile]

Honestly the fact that Run 1 Dan fell into the Steel Kings strategy is astounding Never punished

[@themaddollmaker6774]

Best deckbuilder roguelite since slay the spire. So glad you checked this one out

[@gamergabriel1727]

Personally, this is my favourite RTGame video, it represents all that Daniel is about, a genius when it comes to breaking the game, his humour that gets me laughing every single time no matter how much I rewatch it and seeing how dumb his luck really is.

[@ValTheVillain]

i really like this cuz the only other playthrough i've seen was from Woops and he somehow fell into doing a pair build in both of his videos

[@danieljohnson3320]

This has been a terrifying display. I will be having nightmares tonight

[@iaxacs3801]

This man has a wanted poster at every casino in existence

[@Britterzbee]

RT playing strategic card games like this really is some of my favourite content, I love watching his mind go zoom :)

[@delekmaster3991]

Dan immediately gong, "Read em and weep," as soon as he gets his hand is too funny. Great stuff! 16:48

[@megand1603]

Genuinely chuckled seeing how ridiculously lucky you were -- thanks for the laughs!

[@trygveplaustrum4634]

And it’s no, nay, never No, nay, never, no more! Shall I play the wild rover No, never, no more! -RT, improbably

[@Amambivertednerdwhocantdraw]

Not to be confused with the Poker Night at the Inventory series, where you play a poker game with insane people.

[@creamypeanutbutter3363]

i just wanna say thank you for these videos it has helped me cope with my dads recent stroke that happened yesterday he will get better and fully recover but still scary lol

[@mambodog5322]

From a video all about toilets to a video all about flushing, I think RT decided on the future of the channel

[@TheTrueAmaghedon]

they used to call him the gambling king back in college

[@yosher]

Every time Dan plays one of my favorite games, he manages to make the most reckless decisions and still wind up doing better than I do

[@thelonelybritV2]

Finally, a game that I already had over 100 hours in before RT did a video on it. Then again, the day that I bought Balatro (13th March) I apparently sat down for 12 hours straight & played it until about 4am.

[@bananadoppiotm1088]

They called me the Wild Card King back in college

[@penny1672]

hope we get to see more of this game on the channel, it's super fun !!

[@someonespoopy8269]

Between this video and the last toilet related one, I’m concerned about Dans obsession with flushing ☹️

[@mxmus_prime]

The fact you did this on the first run and it took me over 20 tries just makes me feel worse about myself lol. Didn’t even know about the glass thing working that way

[@goldengamer9948]

RT's poker nickname has to be something like "The Serial Flusher" after this.