Pokemon Booster Box Anatomy

Booster Box opening

Opening a booster box is best to satisfy the gambling urge, which is an inherent part of collecting, and accumulate as many staples as possible for playing game. A factory sealed booster box contains 36 booster packs. After spending a dopamine-filled hour ripping through the vividly bright wrappings, we are guaranteed to end up with:

36 x 6 = 216 common cards

36 x 3 = 108 uncommon cards

36 x 1 = 36 rare cards

TOTAL of 360 cards.

 
This breakdown is based on publicly available information on standard booster pack contents, see below.
 
Out of these 360 cards:

36 are reverse holos

and 5 to 9 would be holo rare or better

 
The quality and quantity of the pulled premium cards or how many ultra and secret rares you can get from a booster box, depends on the average pull rates and your luck. Pull rates are thoroughly calculated by the Pokemon marketing team, so the consumer does not get all the desired chase cards at once yet is not discouraged from buying another box. Generally, 1 in every 4 packs will contain a rare holo or better. “OR BETTER” has changed with time. The value of rare holo cards has now diminished to nearly zero. The sets are getting larger and more diluted with shiny looking pokemon.
In addition, we’ll have:

36 energy cards

36 code cards

Code Cards

Inside each pack, you will find a card with a code for unlocking the pack in Pokemon Trading Card Game Online, to be superseded by Pokemon Trading Card Game Live in 2022.

– Will it unlock the same cards as I have just opened?
– No, in PTCG Online, it will be a randomly generated pack from the same expansion.

Why do code cards come in different colours?
What is the difference between green and white code cards?

When unwrapping a pack, code card is usually the first card you see. And while most people who are new to playing or collecting Pokemon would simply discard it, it actually gives you a tad of insight on what to expect from the contents.
Up to XY BREAKthrough, all code cards in all packs were the same. For many years, this created an unlevel playing field in the world of pack opening. Ultra rare cards have more metal foil in them which makes them heavier than regular non-holo cards. Thus a pack with a premium card weighs a bit more. You cannot tell the difference by simply holding two packs in your hands, though some claim they can!!, but a small inexpensive digital scale is enough to pick this couple of grams of potential treasure.
In real life you could see teenagers weighing packs in store and buying just the heavier ones with premium rares, leaving lighter ones for disappointment of unsuspecting kids or their even more unsuspecting parents. Even my local toy store owner could not resist the temptation and engaged in unethical conduct of selling weighed products to the community.
The Pokemon Company addressed the issue in 2016. Starting from XY BREAKpoint, they introduced green code cards. These are a little heavier and replace the white code cards in packs which have no premium rares, potentially bringing them to the same weight. This is still standard practice. In modern sets, a pack with a green card will give you just 1 reverse holo card. And a pack with a white card will have a reverse holo card AND a premium foil card.
So, code cards are now colour coded. While this works with some limitations in modern sets, the situation with pre-BREAKpoint sets remains unchanged. DO NOT BUY LOOSE PACKS from before that expansion. There is a great chance they are weighed, if not resealed – but that is another problem. As a general rule, DO NOT BUY LOOSE PACKS from the sellers you don’t fully trust.

Up to 2015 XY BREAKthrough – EASILY WEIGHED
 
Starting from 2015 XY BREAKpoint on – HARDER TO WEIGH, though other non-invasive search methods possible

Booster Pack contents

Standard booster pack packaging plainly states that it contains 10 ADDITIONAL GAME CARDS in it. They are guaranteed:

6 common cards

3 uncommon cards

1 rare card

 
9 of these cards are non-holo, 1 is always a reverse holo, or parallel foil, or any other term for this kind of finish. 1 of the cards in a pack MIGHT be a premium card: ultra rare, secret rare etc.
In addition to the additional game cards, you will find:

1 energy card

1 code card

 
In a pack, cards are found in the following order:

5 common non-holo cards

1 reverse holo card – this can be common, uncommon or rare

1 rare card – this can be either non-holo, or holo rare or better

1 energy card

3 uncommon non-holo cards

1 code card

 
This would be a layout for standard sets. Special sets often contain different card quantities and ratios.
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