Bonus buy slots: what a feature buy costs and why it is riskier

A bonus buy, or feature buy, is a button that skips the base game. You pay a fixed price, usually a multiple of your stake, and the slot starts its bonus round straight away. It looks like a shortcut to the exciting part. In money terms it is something else: a single, large bet with a wide range of results and the same house edge.

How a feature buy works

1. Choose a stake. Say £1.
2. Press buy. The game shows a price, for example 100x, so £100.
3. The bonus starts. You get the bonus round, often with the minimum number of scatters, and sometimes a choice of tiers at different prices.
4. The bonus pays what it pays. The result can be far less than the £100 price, or far more.

Some games offer an "ante" or "double chance" bet instead, raising your stake per spin by a set percentage to increase how often the bonus triggers. That works on the same principle: more money in, a different spread of results, no change to the edge.

How the price relates to the bonus's value

Studios price the buy from the bonus's expected value, the average amount it pays over a very large number of rounds.

So a buy is priced to lose on average, just like a spin. The game's rules screen should show the RTP for the buy if it differs from the base RTP; in Great Britain the standards require the RTP to be available before you play (RTS 3).

Why volatility rises

Spinning 100 times at £1 and buying one bonus at £100 can carry the same RTP. The difference is how your money moves.

• One result instead of a hundred. A hundred spins average out some of the swings. One bonus does not.
• Many buys return less than the price. Bonus payouts are lopsided: a few huge results balance many small ones.
• Losses come fast. Ten buys at £100 is £1,000 staked in minutes.

Here is an illustrative bonus that averages exactly 96x:

The average is 0.30×20 + 0.35×50 + 0.20×100 + 0.12×250 + 0.03×750 = 96x. But 65% of buys pay less than the 100x price, and the standard deviation of a single result is about 135x (our calculation from the table). In this example, a £100 buy usually returns £20 or £50 and occasionally several hundred. That is the risk you are paying for. See our RTP and volatility guide.

Where feature buys are not offered

Great Britain. In January 2020 the Gambling Commission warned licensees that "buy-in" options for bonus features did not meet its remote technical standards. It had found six operators offering them, one charging more than £3,000 for immediate access to a bonus round, and all six removed it (iGaming Business; CMS). The Commission pointed to the requirements to make game rules available before play (RTS 3A) and not to encourage customers to gamble to recover losses or to increase their stakes (RTS 14A), and called on all licensees to stop offering the functionality. GB-licensed casinos therefore do not offer feature buys. GB slots are also capped at £5 a spin, or £2 for players aged 18 to 24 (stake limit guidance).

Other markets. Rules differ by regulator, and we only state a market's position where we can source it. Check the game at a licensed site in your own market: if there is no buy button, it is not offered there.

Myths

• "Buying the bonus beats the base game." The buy is priced to keep a house edge, like every other bet in the game.
• "Buy when the slot is cold." Results are independent. The bonus has no memory of the spins before it.
• "A few buys will cover my losses." Feature buys are the fastest way to lose a budget. Never use them to try to recover money you have lost.

Playing slots with feature buys

• Check the buy RTP. It may differ from the base RTP, and the game may be offered at several RTP settings. See online slots.
• Price your session. A single buy at 100x your stake is a hundred spins' worth of money in one go. Set a limit before you start.
• Demo play. Demo modes often include the buy button. Watching ten demo buys shows how varied the results are better than any description.

Where to play

We list licensed casinos only: UK casinos (no feature buys), Ontario casinos, New Jersey casinos, Pennsylvania casinos and Michigan casinos. See all casino markets. Related: Megaways slots, cluster pays slots and hold and win slots.