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Photo-Chad Cheesin’: Winnings, Wheel Odds & WHERE Clauses

Published by Kim on May 4, 2025

This week was stacked – literally! We had some killer Balatro runs and pulled off our most ambitious SQL Saturday yet. Let’s break it down:

Tuesday: Triple Black Deck Trials

We played three Black Deck, White Stake runs, and let’s just say the third time’s the charm:

  • Run 1: Forgot I had fewer hands (classic Black Deck moment).
  • Run 2: Scaling was a little off…turns out vibes aren’t enough.
  • Run 3: Victory! Thanks to unlocking Hanging Chad a week before, I got to flex a Photograph–Hanging Chad synergy that finally delivered the W. Say cheese.

Thursday: Checkered Wins All Around

We switched things up with the Checkered Deck, taking on both White and Red Stake, and we won both!

  • Game 1: Everything just clicked. Big carry by face cards (shoutout to Photo Chad, Smiley Face, Sock and Buskin, and a perfectly timed Card Sharp). The Plant didn’t show up, which meant a smooth cruise to victory.
  • Game 2: Photo-Chad showed up again, but this time with backup. Blueprint and Hologram duplication made for some spicy plays. Red Stake didn’t stand a chance.

Saturday: SQL Gets Real

We opened Saturday’s stream with a deeper dive into the data than usual and things got fancy:

  • Checked in on our Wheel of Fortune odds: 3 wins out of 13 tries, which is weirdly close to the expected 1/4 odds. Law of Large Numbers, I see you creeping.
  • Counted how many Jokers we’ve purchased so we can add in other card types and eventually track Completionist progress (aka, did we buy every single thing we possibly could?).
  • Then it was time for some serious SQL glow-up:
    • Used UNNEST to break out comma-separated lists
    • Wrote a CTE (Common Table Expression) like a true data sorcerer
    • Pulled together a clean list of which Jokers we’ve unlocked, how many are left, and what the unlock conditions are

Jimbo’s Data Update: Joker Tracker Debuts

Wrapped things up by walking through the early stages of my new joker_tracker in Jimbo’s Data. It’s not legendary tier yet, but it’s already logging:

  • Every Joker buy and sell
  • Where the action happens (shop, pack, etc.)
  • Pertinent info like edition, sticker, and cost (with differentiation between buying and selling)

More improvements to come, but it’s already helping keep my data clean enough to eat a Gros Michel off of.

As always, catch the chaos live on Twitch or relive it on YouTube. And don’t forget to check my Balatro GitHub. I’m posting all my SQL queries from SQL Saturdays, so you don’t have to pause the stream and squint at my screen.

Happy analyzing, and may Photo-Chad always smile upon you.

Published inBalatro Data