Stakes 1-8 Guide

Stake-by-stake walkthrough from White to Gold: what each stake adds, when your deck must be fixed earlier, and how to route antes 1-8 under the hardest rules.

Guide highlights

How Stakes Change the Game

Each stake stacks new rules on top of the previous ones. The core idea: the higher the stake, the earlier your deck must be fixed.

White / Red / Green — Learning Phase

  • White Stake: baseline rules. Learn hand values and shop economy here.
  • Red Stake: one extra ante. Keep enough money for interest to survive the longer run.
  • Green Stake: score requirements grow faster. Start taking scaling Jokers by Ante 2.

Black / Blue — Pressure Phase

  • Black Stake: Jokers can appear Eternal and cannot be sold. Never buy an Eternal scaling Joker that needs a future pivot.
  • Blue Stake: one fewer discard. Hand-fixing (suits and ranks) becomes mandatory, so invest in Tarot cards.

Purple / Orange / Gold — Endgame Phase

  • Purple Stake: even steeper score curve. Your build should be complete by Ante 5; late shops are for vouchers only.
  • Orange Stake: Perishable Jokers expire after 5 rounds. Treat them as rentals and rebuy aggressively.
  • Gold Stake: everything above combined. Route your run in this order:
  1. Antes 1-2: any scoring Joker plus economy.
  2. Antes 3-5: commit to one archetype and fix the deck around it.
  3. Antes 6-8: only take xMult, retriggers, and voucher upgrades.

Use the Score Calculator below to check whether your current build clears the next blind.