Bonus buy (slots)
A bonus buy is a slot feature that lets the player pay a fixed multiple of the current stake to enter the bonus round at once, instead of waiting for scatters to trigger it. The price is quoted as a multiplier of the total bet, so a 100x buy at a €1 stake costs €100 in one click. Studios also call it a feature buy or buy-in, and the round that follows plays out by the same rules as one triggered naturally.
How the bonus buy price is set
Most titles price the standard buy at 50x to 100x the stake, though some studios sell several tiers, with premium versions running to hundreds or even thousands of times the bet.
The RTP of the buy is published separately in the game rules, and it can sit a fraction above or below the base-game figure. On a 100x buy at 96.5%, the long-run average cost is about 3.5x the stake per purchase, which is an average across many buys rather than a forecast for the next one.
Availability varies by operator and by licence. The UK Gambling Commission warned operators about the feature, and the six it contacted removed it from their sites; we found no Irish rule specific to bonus buys.
Bonus buy against a natural trigger
The same free spins round can be reached two ways, and the difference lies in cost and exposure rather than in the round itself.
Bonus buy | Natural trigger |
|---|---|
| Round starts on the next spin | Round arrives after an unknown number of spins |
| Fixed price, often 50x to 100x the stake | Cost spread across many base-game spins |
| RTP listed separately in the game rules | Base-game RTP applies |
| Round runs by the same rules | Round runs by the same rules |
| Large sum staked on a single event | Smaller stakes, slower spend |
| Switched off at some licensed operators | Available wherever the slot is offered |
What a bonus buy is confused with
Readers often mix up a bonus buy with free spins handed out by the casino as a promotion. Those are a marketing offer with wagering attached, whereas a bonus buy is a paid feature inside the game.
It is also mistaken for a shortcut to better odds.
Buying the round only removes the wait; it does not make a big win due, and a single purchase proves nothing about the game’s real return, which shows up only across thousands of rounds.
