What are Bonus Buy Slots?

One of the newest trends in online slots is the “Bonus Buy” feature. As the name suggests, it basically allows players to buy the bonus gameplay without having to manually trigger it.

The introduction of this feature has been met with lots of controversy, and that’s something we’ll discuss later on.

For now, let’s focus on the basics behind the bonus buy feature in online slots!

Understanding How Bonus Buy Works

The bonus buy feature was introduced back in 2017 by Big Time Gaming in their White Rabbit slot. The trademarked Feature Drop mechanic enabled players to bypass the basic gameplay and head straight into the bonus rounds.

Unsurprisingly, this turned out to be a massive hit with the players. After all, who would like to spend hours in basic gameplay when they could simply pay upfront and enjoy the thrilling bonus rounds?

That’s exactly what this feature allows – players can use this feature and pay upfront (either a fixed price or a variable price based on stake per line) to completely bypass basic gameplay and trigger the bonus rounds right away.

Let’s take Gates of Olympus as the perfect example. This Pragmatic Play jewel allows you to buy free spins by paying 100x the wager amount. If your default wager is $2, you’ll have to pay $200 for 15 bonus spins.

But, these bonus spins bring forth a massive advantage in terms of multipliers. Plus, every time you get 3+ scatter symbols during the bonus spins, you’ll extend your bonus spins by five additional rounds.

Benefits and Drawbacks of Bonus Buy

The benefits of buying the bonus spins are quite obvious. After buying the feature, you get immediate access to the bonus gameplay. In other words, you don’t have to trigger it manually.

Big wins are almost exclusive to the bonus rounds, no matter what slot you are playing. If you aim to win big in online slots, bonus rounds ought to be your primary focus.

The drawbacks are quite obvious too. Instead of playing the game the way it’s meant to be played, you’re simply buying the bonus rounds. Obviously, the biggest drawback is having to pay for the feature.

Mind you, we’re not talking about a small amount either. Typically, slots require payments between 100x and 200x the wager amount. Yes, you can find slots that have a bonus buy feature below 100x, but the quality of their bonus gameplay probably isn’t worth it.

Calculating Potential Value

The best way to figure out whether or not it’s worth buying bonus spins in a slot is to calculate if there’s a higher chance you’ll trigger it manually for the same price (taking into account small wins too) of the bonus buy feature.

Typically, the feature costs 100x wager. If you set the wager to $1 per round, you’ll have to spend $100 to buy the bonus.

In this scenario, it’s on you to try to figure out whether or not you’d have better chances of triggering the bonus within the first 150ish rounds or by paying for the bonus feature.

Unfortunately, there’s no tangible calculation that works with 100% accuracy. You can’t know for sure just how many spins it would take to trigger the bonus.

 Sometimes it’s 50, sometimes it’s 500. There are no rules here – it’s all RNG (random number generator) business.

The trick is to balance the perceived value (based on your own insight and experience) with the cost of the bonus buy feature. It’s not easy, though. It’s going to take a lot of time, effort, and experience to perfectly polish your gameplay.

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Incorporating Bonus Buy into Strategy

Incorporating strategic elements into this is quite difficult. We’re not talking about specific game mechanics here, wagering setups, or payline optimizations.

We’re just talking about the bonus feature and whether or not it’s worth buying it instead of triggering it the good old-fashioned way.

The only piece of advice I can provide here is this – don’t focus your entire gambling strategy on the bonus buy feature. It’s as simple as that.

No matter how profitable or viable the setup might seem at first, in the long run, it’s not going to give you positive results.

No matter if we’re talking about fixed or variable price tags, bonus buys just don’t make sense when chasing long-term profitability.

It also doesn’t make any sense if you’re just there to have some fun and play for as long as you can. Buying bonus rounds

My Personal Experience with Bonus Buy

I have both good and bad experiences with the bonus buy feature. They’re connected, so let’s start with the good one:

Pragmatic Play was one of the first iGaming providers to include the bonus buy feature following Big Time Gaming’s massive success. Casino games like Gates of Olympus offer a sweet bonus buy feature that costs 100x the wager amount.

I triggered the bonus rounds with 4 scatters and won quite a lot. Then, driven by that experience, I went on to buy the free spins two more times. On each occasion, I ended up with a profit.

Driven by my perfect run at Gates of Olympus, I wanted more of the same on Goddess of Egypt. Unfortunately, I didn’t get anything noteworthy after buying the bonus 4 times. I won’t even tell you about my wagering trends. Let’s just wrap this section up by calling it a “disaster”.

Responsible Gambling and Bonus Buy

The bonus buy feature offers an appealing way to boost your win potential… but also significantly increases the risks too. This feature automatically gives you the slots’ bonus gameplay, but you have to pay quite a lot of money for it.

Knowing that, it’s important to emphasize the importance of being responsible with your funds.

The more you gamble, the more disassociated you are with the money you spend. Hundreds of dollars become pocket change in a matter of minutes.

For that reason, it’s important to set deposit limits, wagering limits, and cool-off periods before investing in the bonus buy feature. This will ensure you don’t overspend and create a much safer online gambling environment for you.

Conclusion

What’s there left to be said about the bonus buy feature? On one end, it offers players more chances to win than playing the average spins.

But, on the other hand, they tend to get quite prices, especially if you want higher wagers.

💡 My advice is to take the bonus buy feature in moderation.

If you base your entire gameplay on bonus buys, you won’t get far. You’ll likely be in a big losing spree, to be more precise.

If, however, you use the bonus buy feature within your gambling strategy, you might amount to something. You won’t get rich overnight, mind you, but your profitability might experience a slight boost this way.