A growing number of slots let you Buy a Bonus instead of having to play for one. A player wonders what the impact of this is:
What are your thoughts on games where you can buy a bonus? Are they worth it? Jeff A.
Jeff A.
The concept behind a buy a bonus is to let a player have a guaranteed bonus for a certain price. The price varies based on the game, primarily by what the expected value of a bonus should be and the bonus’s overall payback percentage, which will generally be in lockstep with the slot but could vary, a bit above or below, by a small amount.
Buying a Bonus from a price perspective can feel more expensive than playing a slot at its normal spin. For instance, on Coin Trio Piggy Burst, a bonus based on a 60 cent spin costs $35. But that works out to just under 60x your bet amount, and the bonus can easily deliver that or more.
Of course, it can also deliver less, but since there are values placed on the coins upfront and one upgrade always awarded upfront, you’re going to get something for your bonus. There will never be a situation where you spend $35 and get a $0 bonus in that specific example.
Online games let you buy bonuses more often, and the most common structure is a 100x the spin amount cost. Those bonuses tend to be even more volatile, so it’s possible to get a small fraction of your purchase back or a large multiple of your purchase – the swings are wild enough there.
But in both cases, because of the payback percentage being similar to a slot, it’s as fair of a bet as doing slot spins. If you prefer bonuses, it can be a way to avoid all the spinning that comes between them, and many of the games this featured on have bonuses that are quite compelling.
So like other aspects of game choice, it’s really up to you. We’ve had fun doing bonus buys and have had some pretty exciting moments. Using that Piggy Burst example, we got a $950 major on a $35 bonus buy not all that long ago, so the opportunity can still be quite good too!
But because the bets are larger, for a bonus that may last a minute or two, the swings can of course be wider as well. It’s the same as if you upped your bet on a slot – bigger bets can mean wilder swings as a general rule, both up and down, so that should be part of your decision about whether to proceed.
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